Addressing the Somalian Elephant
by SSAPrentiss
Summary: After returning from Somalia, Ziva breaks down in the elevator when Gibbs asks her about her time there. This story tells what happened in Somalia, and deals with some other issues down the track. Tiva. This is my first story, so please be kind! :  Enjoy
1. Chapter 1

**This is the first Fanfic i have ever written, please be kind, reviews would be appreciated, as im new to this it hasn't been beta read and its rated T**

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><p>Ziva woke to the sun on her face, she groaned slightly as she put weight on her right hand. It had been a month since she was rescued from the terrorist camp in Somalia. Saleem had tortured her every day, he beat her, put cigarettes out on her, whipped her, and broke her hand, due to the horrible conditions she was kept in she wasn't treated and her hand didn't heal properly, hence the soreness. Ziva never spoke to anyone about what had happened in Somalia, she had a feeling Gibbs knew some of the things that had happened, but she was sure he didn't know the full story, nor had he seen her injuries.<p>

She refused to believe one component of her torture in Somalia, this was the rape that she suffered on a weekly basis at the hands of that bastard, she was drugged frequently so she had minimal control over what he did to her. She got into the shower, got dressed and made herself presentable, she then got in her red mini cooper and drove to the Navy Yard. Upon her arrival she noticed Abby in the parking lot opposite her, she called out and went over to her, the Happy-go-lucky Goth was always happy to see a member of Team Gibbs. She walked into the building with Abby before saying goodbye as Abby headed to her lab, she then continued to the bullpen where she knew McGee would be waiting. Tony would almost certainly be late, and Gibbs would probably be out on a coffee run before they started the days work.

Ziva sat at her desk and logged into her computer, McGee was engrossed in something on his computer so she simply said "Good Morning" and went on to check her e-mails. She sighed as she saw the name 'Eli David' in her inbox. Her father had sent her on the suicide mission to Somalia and caused her to be captured and tortured by Saleem, she did not want anything to do with him. She clicked the e-mail and violently pressed the delete button, she didn't notice Gibbs standing behind her as she did so.

Gibbs was angered by the fact that Eli kept trying to contact his probationary agent, he greeted Ziva and sat at his desk, slowly he found the button for e-mail and wrote a brief letter to Eli saying that he would appreciate it if he stopped contacting Ziva. Sensing his concentration, Ziva asked what he was doing, he replied that he was writing an e-mail, Ziva was very surprised by this and peered onto his screen to see who it was to. She sighed when she saw the message "Gibbs, you can not sent that to him, he will be angry and he may come to Washington to see why i do not want to see him". Gibbs could tell Ziva was upset by this so he got up and ushered her into the 'conference room'. He flipped the switch and began speaking, "Ziva, i know you have been through more than one could imagine this last 8 months but you must understand, i care about you. Tony, McGee, Ducky we all care about you, and that's not even mentioning Abby", Ziva was close to breaking down when all this was said but she was determined not to, then she would just end up saying something she'd regret. Gibbs stared at her expectantly and she knew she must give an answer, "Gibbs i know you care, but you - you must understand, I-I I find it hard to talk about my feelings and I-I'm Scared Gibbs, scared that he will come and see me and force me back there, I do not want that, NCIS is my family now and while what i went through was painful i do not want to be a...burden". She was crying by this time, Gibbs was shocked at how much she had let out, "Ziva, you listen to me you will never..Never be a burden to me or the team, you need to talk, and try and get past this, I want to set up some counselli-" he was interrupted at this point "NO!, I refuse to be some psycho patient of any counsellor, if i need to talk i will come to you, or even Tony and talk, but when I am ready, OK?" Gibbs was amazed at how much she had opened up to him, he looked at her tear stained face and wrapped her into his big arms and held her close, this started her off crying again, "I've got you now Ziver, shhh, you're alright".

Tony was angry by this point he had been standing in the lobby at the elevator for far too long, he started kicking the door, he was about to yell and hit it again when he realised Gibbs must be in a 'meeting' with someone. He sighed and took the stairs, when he reached the bullpen the elevator doors opened, Ziva smoothed her shirt and walked into the bullpen followed by Gibbs. "Hello, Tony" Ziva said as she walked in, he replied and got a small glimpse of her tear stained face, "You OK, Zi? You look upset". "I am fine tony, just what you call Grass-fever", Tony chuckled "Hay", "what?" Ziva asked, "Hay, its Hay-fever, Ziva" Tony laughed, "Oh" she replied slightly embarrassed. Gibbs walked over to Tony and head slapped him " DiNozzo, you're late and then you're sitting her gasbagging and not getting any work done!", "sorry boss, I", "Tony!", "yeah boss?", "Rule 6, now get on with it!". "Ok boss!"

Ziva looked up from her paperwork, and sighed, 7.30, where had the day gone, she stretched her neck and finished her last bit of paperwork, "Tony, I am going now, are you leaving soon?" She asked as he was the only one left at the office, Tony signed off on his last form and got up, turned the light out and grabbed his things. On the way to the parking lot he asked Ziva about what happened that morning "Ziva, i know you had been crying in the elevator this morning" she looked sad, "what's up?" he asked her. "Nothing i am fine" she replied, he grabbed her arm, "Zi, i know you are not fine, tell me what's up". He expected to get a nasty reply back but he was stunned at her response, "Gibbs wanted to talk to me about Somalia, so i did, we chatted and he offered me a counsellor, of course i am not going to take his offer, i told him i would talk to him or you about it when i was ready." Tony was shocked, she never opened up to him, why had she done so now, she had definitely changed since Somalia and he was keen to know why, but he didn't want to push. "well i'm here for you if you need, anytime all you have to do is call me, day or night and I'll listen", She smiled, tears welled up in her eyes, why was she so emotional today, gosh "Thankyou Tony, she replied, i will, see you tomorrow, yes." "Yeah," he replied, "see you tomorrow Zi" and gave her a quick hug, her heart skipped a beat as she was drawn into his chest. She hugged him back and got into her car. As she pulled out of the Navy yard she started thinking, she would have to talk to someone sometime, otherwise the events in Somalia would eat away at her until she crumbled, she made a decision to talk to Gibbs tomorrow about what happened there.


	2. Chapter 2

**Im really bored, and im on school holidays so for the next fews days ill probably get 2-4 chapters up a day, anyway this is the next one :)**

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><p>Ziva walked into NCIS the next morning, she knew what she had to do today, she needed to talk to Gibbs about Somalia, she didn't want to tell him about the rape, but she knew she had to tell him the other stuff, otherwise, although she hated to admit it, she wouldn't function. Parts of her had died in Somalia, and Saleem had crushed some of her spirit, she had always hidden her emotions and she continued to do so in Somalia, although Saleem got to her, she didn't show it. She was ashamed that he was able to get to her, she knew she shouldn't be, but she was, she had been taught since she was trained by her father at the age of 10, never to let anyone get to her, ever. She hated her father for sending her to Somalia, but she also hated him for the childhood he gave her, training her to kill at 10 was not how she wanted to be brought up, she was robbed of her childhood but there was nothing she could do about it.<p>

She walked into the bullpen to find McGee at his computer, she greeted him and put her stuff down, she knew Tony would not be there yet, he was never early. "McGee" she asked, "Where is Gibbs?", "Abby's Lab" he replied not looking up from the screen. She walked through the bullpen and over to the elevator, before pushing to button to Abby's lab. She walked in to find music blaring and Gibbs giving her a morning Caf-Pow. She cleared her throat and after Abby's bone crushing hug, asked if she could talk to Gibbs. He though he knew what this would be about so he beckoned for her to follow and before they knew it they were in the car and headed for Gibbs place.

Ziva sat at Gibbs dining table while he made a coffee and got some biscuits for them. He sat down and then looked at Ziva, waiting for her to start. He didn't want to rush her, so he patiently waited until she was ready. She stared at her coffee for a while, then after 3 minutes, she cleared her throat, "Gibbs, I need to talk to you about what happened in Somalia" she said without so much as a falter in her voice. Gibbs just sat there listening, this was her time to talk, and she would when she was ready he wasn't going to push or interrupt. "While I was there, Saleem, he tortured me, to the extent where I was almost unrecognisable. Everyday, he would beat me, then get someone to bring me a piece of bread for my breakfast. That's all I got twice a day, to eat, one piece of bread." Gibbs now knew the reason she was so damn skinny, she had always been slender but not to this extent. She continued "everyday he would beat me, and then whenever he needed a smoke he would come into my cell and blow the smoke all in my face, and put out the cigarettes on my thighs and torso. He whipped me if I tried to fight back, and when he realised I was too strong for him he sedated me, so I didn't have much control over what he did". She was close to tears by this time, it pained Gibbs to see his 'daughter' like this, he wrapped her up in his arms and held her close, and she let the tears fall freely. It was hard for Gibbs to hear what she had gone through, but he knew now that she had a weight lifted off her shoulders. He was there for her, he knew she knew that, so he just continued to hold her close, after 10 minutes, she finally pulled away, with a small smile on her part, she walked to the bathroom to wash her face. Gibbs waited patiently for her to come out, and when she did, he placed an arm on her back and rub it comfortingly while they walked to the car, he then drove her back to NCIS, where DiNozzo and McGee were waiting for them to return, they were both confused as to where he had gone with Ziva.

When they returned to NCIS, Ziva sat at her desk, avoiding eye contact with both Tony and McGee and did her reports from their last case, a petty officer had been killed in his home with .45. The neighbour found him and reported it to NCIS. Gibbs headed down to autopsy to see ducky.

"Ahh, Jethro, what brings you down here on this fine morning?" ducky asked, "hey palmer, Abby said she wanted to see you" Gibbs said. "She did?, what about?" palmer asked, before realising this was Agent Gibbs asking him to leave while he spoke to ducky. After palmer had left, Gibbs approached ducky "Hey duck, do you Ziva's physical report from when she returned from Somalia?" Ducky replied, "Of course Jethro, may I ask what this is about?" "Ziva talked to me this morning about what happened there, what he did to her, and I just wanna check and make sure she told me everything." Gibbs said simply. Ducky looked at him quizzically, "it's not like you not to trust Ziva" Gibbs replied "I do trust her, I just sensed that she was keeping something from me." Ducky had already seen the report so he knew exactly what was in it, Gibbs looked over the report. _Cigarette Burns to Thighs and Torso, Broken Hand (not properly healed), Whip abrasions and scars to chest and stomach, Broken Jaw, Smoke inhalation, Shock, Malnutrition. _It was quite a list, she was so brave to have got through all that, he though. He held his breath as he saw what was written further down the page, it read: _Rape Kit: POSITIVE_. He couldn't believe it, a bullet to the head was a too easy way for that filthy bastard to die, Gibbs felt like strangling him, sensing Gibbs tense as he read that last line on the report Ducky placed a hand on his shoulder. "She didn't tell you about the rape, I assume" Gibbs shook his head. Ducky continued "the poor girl has been through so much, I am shocked that she is still sane after all that has happened, she hides her pain so well, but I'm glad she opened up to you Gibbs, are you going to say something about the report?" Gibbs wasn't sure what to do, he was numb, Ziva should have never been put through this, Saleem was mostly to blame but a part of it was her fathers fault.

Gibbs returned to the bullpen, still numbed by his recent findings, he sent DiNozzo and McGee down to Abby to collect her report on their recent case before he approached Ziva. "Ziva, I want you to know I have been down with ducky… looking at your physical report from after Somalia" Ziva held her breath, "You know, don't you?" She said, more of a statement than a question, Gibbs nodded, Ziva hung her head. Gibbs heard a sniff before he realised Ziva was crying, he held her close and comforted her. Tony and McGee walked back to the bullpen at this time, Tony noticed what was going on and made a suggestion to go to the cafeteria, he knew Ziva needed time to get herself together, he didn't want her to feel embarrassed for breaking down so he figured it best for her not to know that he knew she was crying again.

After half an hour, Ziva had calmed herself enough to go for a walk, as she was leaving, Tony and McGee approached again, Tony looked to Gibbs "Everything ok, boss?" Gibbs sat at his desk looking at his computer screen, without looking up he replied "Yeah, DiNozzo, Ziva just needs some time."

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><p><strong>What do you think? Reviews would be great, thanks :))<strong>


	3. Chapter 3

**3 Weeks Later**

The NCIS team had been working on a case, they knew the killer they just had to arrest him. They were in a shopping centre, he wasn't very smart, McGee traced his cell phone, which led them to him. Ziva and Gibbs were together, he'd been keeping an eye on her since she opened up to him. They began to approach him but he spotted the two agents approaching him from the side. He ran, "He's running" Ziva yelled into her mic before chasing him. The team split up, Ziva was hot on his heels, when she started getting pains in her stomach again, she'd been having them all morning, she must have eaten some bad food. She kept running, since Somalia she had been throwing herself into her work more and more to distract her from the reality. She began to feel faint, but ignoring this she kept running. She was so close to catching him when she collapsed on the floor, clutching her stomach because of the increasingly bad cramps she was enduring.

Tony tackled the killer, and notified Gibbs, McGee and Ziva. They all replied with a simple "Ok" or "Good Job" except Ziva. Gibbs spoke into his Mic "Ziva, you ok? Tony caught him, head back to the cars". When there was no reply they started getting worried. Gibbs spoke after a while "DiNozzo take him back to the car, and don't let him go whatever you do." "Um, well actually boss," Tony spoke, Gibbs raised his eyebrows "Um, I, wanna come with you….to make sure Ziva's, you know, alright" Tony looked at him hopefully. Gibbs responded "ok McGee you take him, DiNozzo" "yeah Boss" "You Coming?" Tony followed Gibbs through the shopping centre. They went to the corridors near where they caught the killer and split up.

Ziva heard them calling her but due to the pain she was experiencing was unable to respond. "Ziva! Ziva!" she heard Gibbs call, "Gibbs!" she responded, Gibbs followed her voice and turned the corner before he saw her on the floor doubled over in pain. He pulled out his phone and dialled 911, before letting Tony know what was going on and told him where they were.

The ambulance came within 10 minutes and took Ziva to Bethesda, McGee escorted the killer back to NCIS and put him into interrogation with another supervising agent, before letting Abby, Ducky and Palmer know what happened. Gibbs had called the director earlier letting him know that his team wouldn't be back for a while. When they arrived at the hospital Abby started asking lots of questions, not one of them could be answered until Ziva had finished with the doctor.

After half an hour, Ziva came out through the double doors that let to all the rooms and saw her NCIS family all sitting there with worried looks on their faces. She looked to Gibbs, "can I talk to you, please?" Gibbs took her into an empty room and sat her on the bed, she sat for a while before she spoke, "Gibbs, you know what happened in Somalia, it" she trailed off. "Ziver, tell me" Gibbs looked at her with a worried look. She continued "…I was in so much pain before because, I had" she broke down at this point earning another hug from Gibbs, "I miscarried, Gibbs" she finished, "Saleem, he did this to me" she was really crying at this point, he hugged her tighter, "Did you know you were pregnant before all this?" he asked, he didn't want to but he knew it was a question he must ask her. She had composed herself slightly by this point and replied with a simple "no". He rubbed her back and said "Ziva, I think you need to talk to another woman about this, ill go get Abby, and ill be back soon, ok?" Ziva grabbed his arm, "Gibbs, no, I want…need to talk to tony, he's been worried and its not fair to leave him wondering" with that Gibbs went back out to the others "Tony" "yeah boss?" Tony looked surprised, "Ziva wants to see you" Gibbs replied and took him to where Ziva was before leaving them alone. Abby swarmed him with questions when he joined the others but he explained that Ziva would tell them in her own time.

Ziva told tony everything that had happened in Somalia, and about the baby that she'd just lost, she also said in a way that she was glad she didn't have to have his baby, she felt awful about this but it was the truth. Tony told her there was nothing wrong with what she had just said before saying all the painful ways he wanted to kill the bastard. Tony stood up and pulled Ziva up with him, he could sense her pain and pulled her into a hug, he placed a comforting kiss on her forehead and began drawing comforting circles on her back while he led her out to the others. He had his arm around her when they walked out, normally Gibbs would give him a head slap or two for this but sensing how much Ziva needed Tony right now, he let it go.

Ziva managed to keep it together whilst she told the others what happened, she explained that she didn't want any one else to know. The whole team was shocked at her recent announcement, she received many hugs that day, most of them from Abby and Tony. It was late when they left the hospital, Gibbs didn't want Ziva staying by herself that night so he sent her home with Abby.

Abby noticed the many hugs tony and Ziva shared at the hospital that day, she wanted to ask Ziva about I but didn't want to upset her. Ziva noticed there was something on Abby's mind and asked her about it. Abby had always been unable to lie to Ziva, come to think of it, no one could lie to Ziva, she always knew when someone was lying, even Gibbs. Abby was terrible at keeping things to herself, so Ziva made her spill the beans. Abby began "I noticed you and Tony were pretty close today at the hospital" she said with a smirk. Ziva laughed, this was the first time since Somalia that Abby had seen Ziva laugh, "So?" Abby asked, "So, it was just comforting, friendly hugs Abby" Ziva replied, "and.." Abby continued. "And what Abby?" Ziva stated, "Do you want it to be more?" Abby wouldn't let up, Ziva sighed, "I do not have talks like this very often, Abby", "so, stop changing the subject" Abby laughed. Ziva blushed slightly at what she was about to say "Tony and I are friends, we always have been, but I do not think he wants more than that, not to mention rule 12." Abby laughed, "oh wow, you really don't know what tony was like when you were in Somalia, do you?" Ziva looked puzzled, Abby sighed "He barely functioned when we found out the Damocles had gone down, he was down all the time, never smiling or laughing, he really worried Gibbs, and the rest of us. He missed you Ziva, and I think you missed him too." Ziva looked down, she felt bad that Abby was sharing all this with her and Ziva told her nothing about what happened in Somalia.

Ziva spent the night talking to Abby about tony, and eventually she told her what happened in Somalia, Abby was stunned. She couldn't believe anyone would do that to her best friend. They went to bed at 11, as they had work in the morning, even though none of the team wanted her to come in, not after the miscarriage. Abby had set up the sofa bed for Ziva and made sure she had plenty of dinner before they turned in for the night.

Abby woke before Ziva that morning, and couldn't help but notice that some of her back was exposed as she slept, Abby couldn't take her eyes off the scars that covered Ziva's back, from cigarettes, whips and who knows what else, she was enraged that anyone could do that to her friends, Ziva woke up at this moment and noticed Abby looking at the scars, she quickly covered her back and got up, she didn't want anyone to make a fuss about the scars she had obtained, no one had seen them, not even Gibbs.

She got herself ready for work and Abby drove her in, Abby wouldn't let up about tony and told Ziva she should talk to him. Ziva desperately wanted to but she didn't want to wreck the friendship they had recently got back after the fights they had before Somalia.

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><p><strong>this is where the tiva comes into it more :) what did you think?<br>the next few chapter will probably be on tomorrow :) **


	4. Chapter 4

**Here's the next chapter, Enjoy!**

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><p>Ziva was very early for work that day, Abby always got their earlier than most because she had to set up the lab and power on all her machines. Ziva said goodbye to Abby as they headed separate ways. She sighed, spending time with Abby had been good and she had laughed the most since Somalia, but she was still upset about what happened with the baby.<p>

Ziva approached the bullpen deep in thought about yesterday's events, she had always wanted children but not this way, she wanted to be with the one she loved and then think about children. McGee was at the filing cabinet, putting away his report on their case yesterday. Ziva sighed again, she was going to have to write a report about the case and the incident yesterday. McGee heard the sigh and turned around, he wasn't expecting anyone in this early, he was only here at this time to finish his report, "hey Ziva, how are you?" he asked cheerily, Ziva gave him a small, sad smile and replied with a simple "I am alright, how are you?" McGee picked up on her mood "I'm good, what's up?" Ziva tried to avoid the question by checking her e-mails. McGee knew she wasn't ok and he wasn't going to let her be by herself, he hadn't had much of a chance to talk to her recently with Gibbs watching her closely and Tony being protective of her at the hospital. He walked over to her desk and knelt down next to her, "Ziva, I'm worried, tell me what's up, ill tell you what, since were early, you and I will go for coffee, and if you feel like talking then you can, if not it'll be a simple coffee run. Ziva smiled gratefully, McGee cared about her and she felt guilty for pushing him away over the last few days. She owed it to him to tell him about Somalia.

They walked into their local coffee shop, they had walked in silence on the way over, McGee could sense that she wanted to say something but he didn't push her. They bought 4 coffees, well 3 coffees and what tony thought was coffee, he always had a coffee in the morning but he filled it with sugar and hazelnuts, Gibbs thought it was absolutely awful and none of the others had bothered to try it.

They were a quarter of the way back to the office when Ziva decided to speak. "McGee, I am sorry that I have pushed you away the last few days, I spoke to Gibbs about Somalia, and I needed someone to lean on, and then tony, we lost each other for a while before Somalia and I needed to get him back, I have never lost you Tim and I knew you would understand." She gave him a small smile, he was slightly taken aback, she never spoke this much about her feelings, to anyone, and Somalia must have really got to her he thought. A minute later Ziva continued, "In Somalia, everyday Saleem would beat me, blow his cigarette smoke in my face and put them out on my thighs and stomach. If I fought back he whipped me and beat me some more, eventually he realised I was stronger than he so he began sedating me so I had minimal control over what he did to me. I lived in squalor and every week he would come in and he would.." she trailed off, McGee didn't push her, he knew she'd continue in her own time. Ziva eventually continued, adding with a small voice, "he raped me, Tim, and I got pregnant. I had no idea about the baby until yesterday" a tear ran down her face, "Oh, Ziva I'm so sorry" McGee said comfortingly, he sat her on a bench and rubbed her back while she composed herself.

When they arrived at NCIS, McGee still felt sick as to what she had told him, he was angry that a close friend had to endure that, Ziva walked into the bullpen and placed her coffee and Tony's 'coffee' on their desks before excusing herself to the ladies room. She washed off her face and fixed her mascara that had run down her face. When she returned, tony and Gibbs were both at their desks, she greeted them both with a small smile and sat at her desk, attempting to start her reports that lay ahead of her. She couldn't concentrate, she felt awful about yesterday. Gibbs picked up on her mood "Ziva, you shouldn't be here, go home, get some rest" Ziva looked up at him, "No, Gibbs I must finish these reports, I am fine". Gibbs sighed he knew she wasn't fine, but he didn't push, she didn't need him contradicting her right now, after all she'd been through, she needed him, she needed everyone, and they had to be there for her, she had never been pregnant before and she obviously hadn't lost a baby before either.

At lunch time, Gibbs decided they would all go out, hoping to take Ziva's mind off things he took them to her favourite restaurant. Ziva was grateful, but she didn't feel like going out, she was still down about the events of yesterday. Eventually tony convinced her to go, he drove her there. Gibbs took Abby and palmer, and McGee took ducky. Not surprisingly the topic in all the cars was Ziva, the whole team was worried about her. As tony drove down the streets of Washington to Ziva's favourite restaurant, he began "Zi, you're allowed to be upset you know, that bastard did horrible things to you and you ended up carrying his child…" Ziva added with a sob, "and losing it, tony, I didn't want his child in the first place, but I lost it, and I feel awful." Tony grabbed her arm, "you're allowed to feel awful, you've been through so much, I'm here for you if you need to talk, so is Gibbs, McGee, Ducky, Abs, and Palmer, were all here for you. I can't imagine what you're going through but I want to support you through it." He was nervous about what he was going to say, "I love you, Ziva", he'd felt it for a long time, but never said anything. Ziva's heart skipped a beat as he said those 4 words, she looked up at him with sad eyes and replied, "I love you too, Tony".


	5. Chapter 5

**and the next one, enjoy :)**

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><p>Tony and Ziva were the last ones to arrive at the restaurant, tony parked the car and they walked in, the team were sitting at a table already. McGee, Ducky and Palmer were along one side of the table, Gibbs was at the end and Abby was on the remaining side at Gibbs end. The only two seats left were next to each other, away from Gibbs, Ziva smiled. They looked at the menus and Gibbs went and ordered the drinks, after they had all decided what they wanted, they called the waiter over and ordered. The team chatted happily and Ziva was relieved that Somalia was not mentioned once. They were all talking about Gibbs recent project when tony reached down under the table for Ziva's hand. He found it and held it in his, Ziva was shocked at this for a moment but hid it from everyone so they did not ask questions, she turned and smiled at tony. Their meals arrived and they all dug in happily, chatting and laughing. All too soon it was time for them to return to NCIS, they got up and headed to the cars. Tony offered to pay for the meals and they could all fix him up later. Gibbs and McGee drove the others back to the Navy Yard. Tony only offered to fix the bill so he could have extra time with just Ziva. They walked to his car and he grabbed her hand once again, Ziva added "Tony, Gibbs will notice if you keep grabbing my hand like that again" she said it with a smile, tony replied "sorry I couldn't help it" with a laugh. They got in the car and tony leaned over giving Ziva a kiss on the cheek before they started driving back to NCIS.<p>

When they got back to the bullpen Gibbs and McGee were doing things on their computer. Tony sat at his desk and Ziva headed to Autopsy, she needed to talk to Ducky about something.

The elevator dinged and the doors opened, Ziva walked through the doors to Autopsy and noticed that Palmer wasn't there, 'Good' she thought, 'now I don't have to make an excuse to get him to leave'. Ducky noticed her presence, he got up from his desk and went over to her, "Ziva, my dear, what can I do for you?", "I need to talk to you, Ducky" she said. Ducky sensed the urgency in her tone and sat her down waiting for her to speak. She began "Ducky, as you are aware, I miscarried Saleem's child yesterday, and I want to know the chance of me miscarrying again, if I choose to have kids later on." Ducky was amazed that she was able to say all this without breaking down again. Ducky was glad he be able to put her mind at ease, "Ziva, Saleem didn't feed you properly in Somalia, being underweight can cause miscarriages, you were not healthy in Somalia and this would have made carrying that baby to term very difficult, your odds of miscarrying again are pretty slim, in actual fact, they're the same as any other woman, 1 in 5, so if you do get pregnant again, I am confident you will be able to carry to term." Ziva smiled at this information, "Thankyou, Ducky, I feel much more relieved now."

Ziva was still smiling at the recent information she had received when she got back to the bullpen, the whole team noticed how happy she looked, but didn't ask. They were simply glad to see her smiling again. Gibbs phone rang, he took the call before yelling "Grab your gear!" to the agents looking at him expectantly. They headed to the car and tony asked "where we going boss?" "Dead lieutenant at Norfolk" he replied.

The team drove to Norfolk and worked the scene, collecting evidence and got statements from who they needed. When they got back to the base it was late, 10 PM. They grabbed their coats and bags and headed home. Ziva hadn't bought her car to work today, as Abby drove her in, tony offered to take her home and she accepted gratefully. They pulled up outside Ziva's apartment, and remembering they hadn't had dinner invited tony in for something to eat. Tony came in and sat on Ziva's sofa while she made them some dinner, "you sure you don't want any help?" he asked her, "No, tony, sit and let me get it ready" she replied with a chuckle.

After 20 minutes she came out with a simple pasta dish for them to eat and a bottle of wine. She poured him a glass, and they sat and ate their meal. Tony began "Zi, about what happened at lunch today, I want to be with you, to protect you, and to love you, I hope you feel the same, but I don't want to push you, you've been through so much, and –" she interrupted him at this point, "Shhh, tony, I love you, you know that, you do not have to worry about pushing me, trust me you will know if I do not agree with what you are doing". He smiled and continued eating his dinner. After they had both eaten they sat on the couch and watched some TV together, 10 minutes into the program, tony wrapped his arm around Ziva's shoulders and pulled her closer, she leaned on his shoulder and smiled, she hadn't ever been this close with tony, he stroked her hair and looked into her brown eyes, they showed no sign of the pain she'd been through, she returned the gaze into his hazel eyes. They were gradually getting closer and closer until finally their lips touched and they shared and intimate kiss. They continued to sit together for another 20 minutes before tony decided that he had to leave. She walked him to the door and gave him a quick peck on the lips before waving goodbye and closing the door, she smiled as she prepared herself for bed.


	6. Chapter 6

**2 Months Later**

It had been 2 months since that night in Ziva's apartment, so far they'd hidden it well, no one knew that they were together. Ziva was getting happier every day, she still was a bit down some days but the team understood. She was back to healthy weight again and she looked so much better. The scars weren't as visible, although they were still there. She was getting over Somalia, this was a good thing, and her father had stopped trying to contact her. She was more and more like her usual self every day, she hardly ever broke down anymore and she was back to teasing tony in the old way she used to. Gibbs wasn't as protective of her and McGee didn't worry as much as they knew she was getting better. Abby still pushed for any information about what was happening with her and tony, but she had no idea they were seeing each other.

Tony spend the last night at Ziva's but they took separate cars in order to avoid suspicion, Ziva arrived first due to her driving skills, and tony was late as usual. Ziva walked into the bullpen to find Gibbs on the phone and McGee getting his badge and gun out, she shot him a questioning look and he explained that there was a gunman in a local mall and there were no local cops to go and sort him out. Ziva was confused, how was this their jurisdiction? It was then that McGee added that the gunman was a petty officer who found out his wife was cheating and decided to get revenge while she was shopping with her boyfriend. She nodded and dumped her coat, exchanging it for her gun and badge. Gibbs got off the phone and told her to take her backup and knife too in case it got ugly, she just nodded. "Where's DiNozzo?" Gibbs said impatiently, "I'll call him" McGee said, "alright, tell him to meet us there, we need to get this situation sorted as soon as possible, Ziva take his gun and badge for him" Gibbs said. McGee and Ziva complied without a word and went and got one of the cars, Gibbs was following in another.

They arrived at the mall, shortly followed by DiNozzo, Ziva waited outside with him while he got himself prepared before they headed in. Gibbs and McGee were already at the food court, where the event was taking place, he had the wife and her boyfriend at gunpoint and the other patrons where all scattered around him on the floor. Ziva and Tony joined them and Tony began negotiating for him to let them go, Gibbs assigned this job to tony because of his days as a Baltimore detective, he'd have the most experience in a situation like this. Tony began negotiating with the petty officer, trying to get him to release the other patrons. He was beginning to get through to him when he started getting angry again, Tony explained to him that he was going to go and help one of the women who was having an asthma attack, as he moved forward to help her, the petty officer aimed the gun at him. "TONY!" Ziva yelled out, but it was too late, the petty officer fired and shot tony in the thigh. He was aiming at Ziva by this time who was making her way over tony, Gibbs read what he was going to do before he did and aimed his own gun at the petty officers gut, he fired and the officer went down. Ziva had made her way to tony by this time and was putting pressure on his wound, while stoking his hair. McGee cuffed the petty officer and put pressure on his wound while Gibbs called an ambulance and calmed the wife and her boyfriend.

The ambulance arrived and began treating Tony's leg and the petty officers wound. Ziva stayed by Tony's side as they worked on him, Gibbs and McGee were focussing on the wife and her boyfriend, knowing tony was in good hands. Tony was weak from the blood loss, Ziva was talking to him, keeping him from unconsciousness, when tony whispered "kiss me, Ziva, if I die, I want the last thing I feel to be your lips." A tear slipped down Ziva's cheek as she heard these words, "listen to me tony, you will not die, do you hear me? You will NOT die!" with that she leant down and kissed him, the paramedics had stabilized him by this time and were ready to take him to the hospital, another ambulance had arrived to take the petty officer, and treat the wife and her boyfriend for shock. Ziva wanted to go with him in the ambulance, but only family were able to go with him and Gibbs needed her to help them finish at the scene. She walked over to Gibbs and McGee as the ambulances drove off, Gibbs grabbed her face and looked into her eyes, "You ok, Ziver?" he asked, she nodded, "Can we just get on with it? I'm covered in blood and I want to go and see how Tony's doing." She asked. Gibbs nodded.

An hour and a half later Gibbs, Ziva, McGee, Abby, Ducky and Palmer walked into Bethesda. Only 2 months had passed since the last time they were in here, and Abby was as worked up as usual, "Oh My God, Tony, I hope he's ok, I mean how did it happen –" "Abby, calm down" Gibbs added reassuringly "tony has been shot before, I am sure he will pull through." He gave Abby a hug, that's when he noticed Ziva sitting by herself in the corner of the waiting room, Gibbs approached her "Ziva? You ok?" "I am fine, Gibbs, I just hope tony pulls through, I mean he lost a lot of blood, and-" Gibbs cut her off, "Ziva, tony will be fine, he knows if he's not he has answer to me" Ziva laughed "and me" she added with a chuckle. Gibbs led her over to the others and they sat and waited for Tony's doctor to let them know that he was ok.

A couple of hours later a doctor came out and spoke to them, "You here for Anthony DiNozzo?" Gibbs nodded, Ziva stiffened, preparing herself for the worst, the doctor continued "He lost a lot of blood, but there's no serious damage, he must take it easy for a while, but other than that he'll be fine, you are welcome to go and see him now, but I'm just warning you that he's had pain killers." She added with a smile, the team groaned, they'd all seen Tony on painkillers and it wasn't always pleasant, but they went and saw him anyway.

The team crowded into the tiny hospital room, Tony sat up with a pleased look on his face at the sight of his 'family'. Abby flooded him with questions and engulfed him in a bone crushing hug, McGee, ducky and palmer patted his shoulder and said they were glad he was ok, Ziva gave him a quick hug, but not enough to make any of them suspicious, and Gibbs gave him a headslap saying that if tony ever put his team through this again, he'd kill him, tony added "Thanks boss", knowing this was Gibbs way of saying he was happy that tony was ok.

By 10 o'clock everyone except Abby, Ziva and Gibbs had headed home, normal visiting hours finished at 6 but Gibbs had twisted the nurse's arm, so she let them stay longer. Abby stated that she should be heading off when the clock on the wall indicated it was 10.10 PM, as she left Gibbs, mentioned that he was heading off to and Ziva should do the same, she told him that she wanted to stay a little longer, but promised she'd leave within 20 minutes, Gibbs nodded and said goodbye to tony, but as he left he beckoned to Ziva indicating that he wanted to talk to her, she shot tony a worried look before following Gibbs out.

As they entered the corridor Gibbs turned to her, "there something you wanna tell me David?" he asked before continuing "I saw you kiss tony today before the ambulance took him, what's going on? And don't even think about lying to me, I can tell when you're lying" Ziva sighed, they were busted, "we have been seeing each other, yes, but it does not affect our work, we keep it out of the office" she explained, Gibbs looked at her, "how long has this been going on Ziva?" Ziva looked away, "since the day we all went out to lunch after I miscarried she explained, so 2 months." Gibbs couldn't believe that he'd missed this, but as she said they'd stayed strictly professional at work until today, he sighed, "well I do have a rule against this, but the agency doesn't, and I always figured it would be broken by someone one day, and I guess I cant be surprised that its you two, there's always been chemistry there." Ziva was shocked, Gibbs was letting them get away with it? She thought she was off the hook, when he added "if this starts affecting your work then I'm going to have to separate you two, and you can tell Dinozzo that if he hurts you, I will hunt him down, you understand?" Ziva was amazed at how fatherly Gibbs was being. Gibbs said goodbye to her and headed out of the hospital, leaving the words he'd just said to sink in.

Tony was getting nervous, what was taking them so long? He was about to grab some crutches the nurse had given him and find them when Ziva walked in. "well?" he asked, she answered "he knows about us, it seems he saw me kissing you today, he's fine with it but he said that if it begins to affect our work then he'd move one of us and he also said that if you hurt me, he will hunt you down" Tony was amazed and confused, he was fine with it? Seeing the confusion on his face, Ziva added, "he said that rule 12 would be broken one day, and he's not surprised we were the ones that would break it." Tony laughed, "well he was right I guess." Ziva stayed a short while longer before she got up to leave, "I should go now tony, some of us have to work tomorrow" she said cheekily, he laughed, "alright, see you tomorrow then?" he asked, "Of course" Ziva replied and leaned down to give him a passionate kiss, the monitor next to him indicated his heart rate was increasing, she pulled away, raised her eyebrows, gave him a cheeky smile and left.

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><p><strong>what did everyone think? hit that review button! :)<strong>

**next chapter should be up either tonight or tomorrow**


	7. Chapter 7

**1 Month Later**

A month had passed since tony got shot, he was currently in rehab and he was doing well, due to the fact that the bullet didn't hit anything vital he was set to return to work at the end of the week on desk duty.

No one except Gibbs knew about tony and Ziva seeing each other, and they intended to keep it that way, at least for the time being. Gibbs could see that Ziva was distracted while tony was away, she was worried and had every right to be. Some days he would give her the afternoon off to go and see him, of course he didn't let on to anyone that she was seeing tony or the others may get suspicious.

Tony was set to return to work on the Friday of the current work, that way there would be paperwork to do and he would have a rest over the weekend. Ziva strode into his room at 4.30 on Wednesday afternoon "hello, my little hairy butt, how are you feeling?" she asked, "id be better if I got a kiss from you sweetcheeks" he added, Ziva chuckled, his injury certainly didn't stop him, she leant over and gave him a peck on the lips, she couldn't help but noticed that he sneaked a look down her shirt as she bent down, "anymore of that, and I won't kiss you at all" she said playfully, tony pouted. "I am going to go and speak to Dr. James, I want to see when he thinks you will be able to walk on that" she indicated at his thigh, and walked out of the room.

"Dr. James" she called, "may I speak to you about tony please" the doctor stopped "you are his partner at NCIS right?" Ziva smiled and extended her hand "Ziva David, I am also Tony's girlfriend" she added. Dr. James told her that tony would be able to come off desk duty in a couple of weeks, but he couldn't run or do any 'strenuous' activities until he was off the crutches in a months time. Ziva thanked the Doctor and returned to Tony's room to deliver the news, she began "you can come off desk duty in a couple of weeks, but no running and no sex" tony groaned, "how will I survive?" he asked, "You'll manage" Ziva added giving him a more passionate kiss. As they pulled away, she was reluctant to tell him that she had to go, she wanted to stay but she had been invited to dinner at Ducky's place with the team. Tony stared at her ass in the tight pants she was wearing as she exited the room.

When she arrived at Ducky's her and Gibbs were the only ones there. Gibbs knew where she'd been and questioned her about it while Ducky was getting the roast out of the oven, she told him everything except the part about no sex, she didn't want Gibbs to know about her sex life, Gibbs sensed there was something she wasn't telling him, but taking a guess as to what it was about, left it alone. Abby, McGee and palmer arrived shortly after this conversation and they all sat down to dinner. The team spent the night conversing about various topics. After the dinner dishes had been cleared away, Abby asked "has anyone been to see tony?" when is he able to come back?" Gibbs looked to Ziva, "I have been Abby" Ziva stated before quickly adding "he needed some more clothes and Gibbs and McGee were both busy, the doctor told me that he is happy with tony returning to work on Friday and he can come off desk duty in a couple of weeks." McGee was confused, he had never been asked to get tony some clothes from the apartment, and as far as he knew no one on the team had the keys to his apartment. He left it alone for the time being, but intended to talk to Abby about it later.

Thursday passed slowly, they only had paperwork to do, Ziva sighed, she hated paperwork. She was keen to get home and get a nice filling meal ready for when tony got home from the rehab centre later this night. She was picking him up at 7, and she wanted the meal to be ready and just need heating up by then. Ziva walked out of NCIS at 5, she still had paperwork to do, but that could wait till tomorrow. McGee noticed her leave and went down to talk to Abby, as he walked into her lab he turned her music right down, "abs" he began "you know how Ziva said she had to get clothes for tony and Gibbs and I were both busy?" she thought for a moment, "yeah, wait, what are you getting at Timmy?" she asked, McGee continued "I was never asked to get clothes for tony and none of us have been that busy recently, you don't think…Ziva's seeing him for other reasons, do you?" Abby pondered that thought for a while, "Maybe, I mean it's obvious that they had feelings for each other for quite a while, but Gibbs wouldn't allow it, would he? And – wait, what if he doesn't know, when do you think it happened?" "Abby!" McGee stopped her ramblings, "we don't even know if they are together, they may not be and he may have just needed clothes" McGee knew that those two being together was quite likely, but the idea of his two friends, sleeping together. He found it a bit, awkward and would rather not think about it. Oh well, he thought, well know eventually.

Ziva had just taken the pasta sauce off the stovetop when she looked at the clock, she had to pick up tony in 20 minutes, and she had just enough time to change before picking him up. She quickly changed into some black pants and a black long sleeve shirt, as she walked out the door she put her cobalt coat on and grabbed Tony's keys, she would take his car as it had much more room than hers and would be easier to get into.

She strode into the rehab centre and signed the papers before leading tony out to the car, a few nurses helped get his bags and place them into the car. Ziva helped him get in before striding around to the drivers door. She got in and turned the key, tony grabbed her arm, they both leant in and their lips met, they shared an intimate kiss before Ziva drove them to her apartment. She served dinner and they decided to watch a movie afterwards, tony decided on _Pirates of the Caribbean._ Tony and Ziva lay on the couch together, Ziva in front and tony behind with his arm around her waist. As they movie began tony said, "Zi, you remember the first time you and I talked about this movie and you thought that Johnny Depp was a pirate?" she whacked him lightly in the ribs, "do not remind me" she said, tony laughed as he slowly moved his hand up from her waist until it was resting on her left breast, she smiled, "tony, we cant do this, doctors orders." Tony sighed, "no the doctor said no sex, he didn't say I couldn't do this" he leant down and passionately kissed her, he gradually made his down her neck, planting a single kiss every inch or so, he was on top of her by this time and they began making out again, he began unbuttoning her pants when she stopped him, "tony, doctors orders" she said, tony pouted like a small child before sitting back and watching the movie.

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><p><strong>R&amp;R Please :)<strong>


	8. Chapter 8

**Here's the next chapter. Hope you enjoy it :)**

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><p><strong>1 Month Later<strong>

The next month passed slowly, tony was back at work and off desk duty, he was able to hold a light jog but Gibbs wouldn't let him do anything to stressful just yet, tony and Ziva were allowed to have sex again, and they celebrated this occasion often. Tony and Ziva's relationship was more serious now and they'd moved in together, they still hadn't told the others, they were going to but they needed to speak to Gibbs first.

Ziva woke and reached her hand out to where tony was sleeping next to her, she ran her hand over his chest, he woke up and smiled at her before leaning in for a kiss. He reached out his hand grabbed her waist pulling her close, her hips came into contact with his and he reached under her shirt to begin removing her bra, she helped him take it off before he rolled on top of her.

They arrived at NCIS with a few minutes to spare, they were both happy about the mornings events, they were planning on speaking to Gibbs today about their relationship and they'd decided that they were going to have the team over for dinner that night to share the news with them. Abby was talking to McGee in the bullpen when they arrived, she raised her eyebrows at McGee when she realised they'd arrived together and the smiles on their faces, they all greeted each other before Ziva asked where Gibbs was, she said that he went to the cafeteria. Ziva nodded and her and tony headed that way together. Abby was suspicious of this and didn't take long to start babbling to McGee about what had just happened.

Tony and Ziva caught up to Gibbs and they all sat at a table in the cafeteria, Ziva began "Gibbs, as you know, tony and I have been seeing each other the last few months" Gibbs nodded and tony continued "well, we wanted to tell you before anyone else, but Ziva and I have decided that we are going to move in together, we plan to tell the team at dinner tonight, but we wanted you to know first." Tony braced for the headslap that never came, Gibbs smiled and added "I'm glad you two are happy, but DiNozzo, you hurt her you die, got it? And keep it out of the office." He walked away after he finished the sentence, Ziva and tony were shocked at his reaction, he was fine with it but Tony knew the threat was genuine, not that he was ever going to hurt her.

They decided that they'd have the dinner at Ziva's, considering they were going to live there, and it was a bigger place. Ziva went down to autopsy, and Abby's lab and invited them to come before heading to the bullpen to speak to McGee. They were all able to come, to tony and Ziva's delight.

Gibbs team left NCIS by 5 that night, and tony and Ziva headed straight home to get dinner ready, they were cooking a grilled chicken with mash potatoes and corn. Tony was handling the vegetables and Ziva was concentrating on the chicken, every now and then tony would grab her by the waist and start kissing her, but her knew they had to get it done in time for the team. When dinner was almost ready the pair went and got changed, into some nicer clothes. Just as they finished there was a knock at the door. Ziva walked to the door and answered it, the whole team were on her doorstep with the exception of tony, "come in, tony is already here, dinner is almost ready." She said with a smile. The team sat at the table and waited for dinner to be served.

Ziva bought out the chicken and the whole team dug in, they all mentioned how lovely the meal was and sat at the table chatting after the dishes were cleared away. Ziva began, "there is a reason you were all invited here tonight" she looked to Gibbs, he smiled at her and she continued "tony and I have been seeing each other, and we have decided to move in together" she said pulling tony up with her, he wrapped his arm around her waist, Abby was the first to speak "I knew it, how long has it been going on? Why didn't you tell me? Wait…why is Gibbs smiling, normally you'd be headslapping tony by now!" Ziva attempted to answer all Abby's questions, "well, it started that day we went out to lunch after my miscarriage, and we didn't tell you because we wanted to keep it on the down low" Gibbs interrupted her "and I'm smiling because I've known about it all along and tony knows the punishment if he messes with her." Abby was stunned, but very happy, tony and Ziva were finally together. They sat for a while longer and everyone congratulated the happy couple.

Later on tony suggested they watch a movie, he picked out _Mr. and Mrs. Smith_, Abby chuckled, "this movie should be called _Mr. and Mrs. DiNozzo_" "don't encourage them, abs" Gibbs added. McGee and Palmer were sitting on the floor, Abby and Ducky had a recliner each, Gibbs was sitting on the 3-seat sofa and tony was at the other end, Ziva was in the middle with her head resting on Tony's shoulder, she looked into Tony's eyes and he returned the gaze, he bent down and was halfway through an intimate kiss when he felt a sharp pain at the back of his head, he looked up and Gibbs was looking at him, "knock it off, you two. I said I was fine with it, but I never said I wanted to see you two playing grab-ass around me", "sorry boss" tony said, Gibbs chuckled. He was glad they were happy together.

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><p><strong>I now have 2 options, I can finish it here, or I can continue and add to the storyline. Im not sure what to do, so I am asking you guys, please let me know in a review :)<strong>


	9. Chapter 9

**I decided to keep going! A few people reviewed so i thought i'd make you happy!**

**Sorry i have not updated in a while, im recently back at school and im doing all theory subjects, so i have a fair bit of work to do. i will try and update every weekend, but sometimes life gets in the way so i apologise in advance for that.**

**because i made you wait so long, this chapter has a fair bit of Tiva in it :)**

**also im apologising now incase some of the terms used in this chapter arent what is used in America, im from Australia, so i used what i've been brought up with :)**

**Enjoy! and dont forget to review, please! :)**

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><p>Ziva groaned as tony pulled the last box of his stuff into the already cramped apartment, "How are we going to fit <em>all<em> your stuff as well as what I already have?" she asked him, tony shrugged, "this may only be a temporary thing, zi…you may hate me by the end of the week and want to kick me out." Ziva frowned "do not joke about that Tony, I love you and I want to make this work between us, I want us to be happy!" Tony chuckled, "I love you too, Zi, it was just a joke, I only said it because I knew you would bite." He gave her a big cheesy grin and pulled her closer, wrapping his arms around her waist and kissing her deeply. They reluctantly pulled away and began unpacking Tony's bags, placing his clothes and underwear in draws ziva had cleared for him. he picked up small blue velvet box inside. Ting her to see the small blue velvet box inside. He had been planning this for a while, just waiting for the right moment. Inside the box was a white gold ring, size 5, with a flawless diamond, not too big as he knew she wouldn't want anything too flashy, around the diamond were small diamond chips. He'd picked it himself, no one else knew of his intentions and he hoped that she loved the ring as much as he thought she would.

After all the unpacking was done, tony suggested that they go out for a movie and dinner. Ziva flopped on the couch, "Tony, I am tired, how about we just watch a movie here and order some takeout?" He was surprised by this response, usually she would jump at the chance to eat out, but he agreed, whatever made her happy, and who knows, maybe he'd get the chance to propose tonight?

They ordered some Chinese takeout, as pepperoni pizzas weren't as tempting to ziva as they usually were. The Chinese arrived at around 7 and they sat down to watch Matt Damon in _The Bourne Identity_. Ziva rested her head on Tony's lap and was asleep by the end of the movie, as the credits rolled down the screen tony gently prodded her to wake her, she was groggy from sleep still as he walked her up the stairs, and helped her change into her pyjamas, which were actually a pair of shorts and one of his shirts she had slipped into her bag after their last undercover assignment. Once they were in bed she snuggled close and drifted off to sleep almost immediately, her light snores filled the room, tony smiled as drifted off to sleep himself.

Tony woke the next morning to an empty bed, he padded down the hallway of the apartment to the bathroom, he was surprised to hear gagging noises followed by the running tap, he frowned, why would she be throwing up? Maybe the food she'd eaten last night was bad. He felt fine but they had eaten different meals. He knocked on the door and entered the small beige bathroom, he placed a hand on her back, "What wrong Zi? He asked, "I heard you throwing up." She shook her head, "The chinese last night must have been bad" she said simply. She opened the cupboard to pull out her toothbrush when she noticed the unopened box of tampons sitting on the top shelf. Her blood ran cold, she'd bought them almost 7 weeks ago, yet they weren't open…she frowned, surely she couldn't be, they hadn't been using protection but…she turned to tony, a worried look on her face as to what his reaction would be "Tony, I want you to listen to me, I think there is a chance that I may be…" she stopped, tony looked at her, "What?" he asked worried, she continued "Pregnant". Tony looked shocked, she took this as a bad sign, "You don't want a baby do you?" she looked upset but he could never be sure, he could read her better than anyone but he was still uncertain at times, "Of course I do, Ziva, I love you" he jumped up at that point, lifting her and twirling her in the air, "Woo! Were having a baby!" he yelled, she laughed glad he was happy but added, "Tony, we can not be sure yet, do not get too excited, I could just be late…" he placed her down gently, "I know you are not sure, I really want a child with you but I will never love you any less is we don't have one" he said, then he remembered something. "Wait here, ill be right back".

He raced down the hall and ripped the door open to the dressing table next to his bed, he rummaged around until he found what he was looking for. When he found it he raced back to the bathroom where Ziva was waiting, confused about what was going on. He went over to her and grabbed her hand, she didn't notice the small box in the hand that was dropped loosely at his side, he began "Ziva, I have loved you since the day we met, you are gorgeous, and I cant keep my eyes off of you when you're around, I don't want you to think I'm doing this just because you may be pregnant, because I have been planning this for weeks" he opened the box and looked her in the eyes, "Will you marry me?" he asked her, she looked at him for a moment, "Yes! Absolutely, I love you!" he broke into a wide grin and pulled her in for a deep passionate kiss.

They pulled up outside the local chemist and headed in, tony held Ziva's hand as they made their way to the aisle which contained the feminine hygiene and pregnancy tests. Tony squeezed Ziva's hand as she reached for a few of the boxes and decided which was best. She chose a test in a blue box, that one seemed the easiest to understand before she and Tony headed to the cashier and paid for the test. Tony drove her home and waited anxiously outside the bathroom while she did what she needed to do.

Ziva ripped the packet open and followed the instructions, she covered the small white stick with a towel and joined tony while they waited for the 2 minutes to be up. Tony was getting impatient, this was the longest 2 minutes _ever_. When they were finally up, ziva uncovered the test to reveal the results.

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><p><strong>As much as i want to keep writing tonight, i cant, Im Sorry! I have work to do for school and i think i should leave this for a bit to build suspense, *evil laugh.<strong>

**Thanks for reading, and the reviews and favourites! Im glad you like it! keep hitting that review button! Kay, Go! :)**


	10. Chapter 10

_Ziva ripped the packet open and followed the instructions, she covered the small white stick with a towel and joined tony while they waited for the 2 minutes to be up. Tony was getting impatient, this was the longest 2 minutes__ever. When they were finally up, ziva uncovered the test to reveal the results._

They held their breath, the towel fell away from the stick, revealing two thin lines in the small window, tony looked to his partner with a questioning look, she handed him the box and they looked at the guide on the side, they looked at the picture that resembled what Ziva had in her hands, before they saw the word written next to it, _Positive_. Ziva looked to Tony, unsure of how he would react to the news. When she turned she saw the broadest smile she had seen on his face, he pulled her close and kissed her. The kiss lingered and as they gradually and reluctantly parted, Tony yelled out "Were having a baby!" this took Ziva by surprise at first, but she laughed and hugged him. "We are going to have to tell Gibbs" Tony stated, "he will _kill_ you" she added with a laugh, but they were both too happy to worry about Gibbs reaction.

They had decided to invite the team over for dinner the next night to tell them both lots of good news. Ziva had decided that instead of cooking they'd order in. there was a new Italian Restaurant down the block that they had been meaning to try so they ordered various pastas, and pizzas just before the team arrived.

The team arrived all together at 6 PM and the food arrived minutes later, ziva had successfully hidden the new ring on her finger from her colleagues so far, they were intending on telling the team the news of the engagement before dinner as it would be too hard to hide the ring whilst eating, especially from the eyes of Abby, she rarely missed anything. The news of the baby would wait till afterwards.

As the people Tony and Ziva called their family sat down at the table, the couple stood up. As they did so all eyes turned to the pair, Tony's arm was around Ziva's waist and the hand that she wore her ring on was tucked into her pocket to conceal it until they made the announcement. Tony began, "We invited you here tonight because we have some news," Abby looked excited and worried at the same time, Ziva continued, "There is no point in dragging this out, Tony and I have decided to" Abby interrupted, "Oh No, You guys haven't broke up have you?" McGee chimed in "Abby, do you really think Tony would have his arms around her if they broke up" "How about we let them finish and then we'll know" Gibbs added, more of a statement than a question. Ziva nodded, acknowledging Gibbs words, before Tony continued, "What were trying to say is, Ziva and I are engaged!" There was a quick silence that filled the room before the words sank in. Gibbs was the first to recover, "Married Agents, well that's a new one for me, I'm happy for you two, just keep it out of the office, the whole of NCIS may not know about your relationship now, but they certainly will once your married, and to be clear, I don't wanna walk in the bullpen one day and find you two playing grab-ass, got it? He smiled, the rest of the team congratulated the happy couple and Abby stared at Ziva's ring while they sat down to dinner.

Tony and Ziva were in the kitchen cleaning the last of the dinner dishes, when Tony grabbed her in his arms and pulled her close, "when are we going to tell them?" he asked, they were interrupted by Gibbs who was bringing in a plate they'd missed, "Tell us what, DiNozzo?" he asked, "Uh, well actually, we want to tell everyone together" Tony said as he looked at Ziva who simply nodded.

They finished up with the dishes and assembled the team in the living room, Tony and Ziva stood in a similar stance as they had during the previous announcement, Tony didn't say anything this time, as much as it was _their_ news, she'd be the one that was carrying their child so she could tell their friends. She began, "Our previous announcement was not the only one we have this evening. This morning, Tony and I found out that I have something that will affect not only me, but Tony as well for a substantial amount of time." Abby's eyes widened, "Why? Are you sick?" upon looking around the room Ziva noticed that everyone had worried expressions on their faces, McGee looked like he was going to be sick, as he was so worried. "No, no, calm down, this will affect us for a long time because we will have a family, we found out this morning that I am pregnant!" the shocked expressions returned for the second time that night as once again the news sank in. Every person in the room congratulated them, Gibbs wrapped Ziva in his arms and told her that he couldn't be more proud. Abby's hug came next, not as bone crushing as usual, Ziva figured she was worried about squashing her stomach, and hurting the baby. She returned the gesture, before receiving a hug from McGee and a kiss on the cheek from Ducky, Palmer congratulated her and she laughed as she watched Gibbs slap Tony on the back of the head, explaining that it was for getting his 'most deadly agent' pregnant, costing her time off work in the future, although they both knew he was happy for them.

Once the original shock and congratulations were over, Tony and Ziva approached Abby and McGee, who were talking on the sofa, "Sorry to interrupt Probie, but we have something to ask you" Tony began, McGee and Abby looked up and Ziva began speaking, "we hope you will consider being our baby's godparents" she asked. Abby and McGee's faces lit up, "we'd love to!" they yelled before Abby began babbling to McGee about what the baby would be like and how much they'd spoil it. Tony laughed as he pulled Ziva closer and kissed her on the temple, she looked up and rose on her toes, kissing him passionately. Gibbs was standing with Ducky and Palmer as they watched the happy couple together, and the very excited agent and scientist that were having a very deep conversation about the unborn child.

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><p><strong>Hope you enjoyed it! Reviews would be wonderful, Thankyou for the new favourites and reviews :)<strong>


	11. Chapter 11

**Thankyou for the reviews and favourites since the last update, I'm glad readers are happy with what I have written so far! **

**I wasn't planning on getting any writing done today but I spent 5 hours non stop on my art assignments so I could get ahead and have more time to write, so hopefully ill be able to get at least 2 chapters up this week, anyway enough about my non-social life, lets get back to the story!**

After the team had gone home, both Tony and Ziva flopped on the couch with a sigh, "that went much better than I expected" Ziva stated, "Yeah, I was convinced Abby was going to pass out, one bits of news like that is enough to make her ramble on, but two" Tony chuckled, "I was sure Gibbs was going to kill you Tony" Ziva added, "and I am glad that Abby and McGee are thrilled about being the godparents of our child" she leaned over to him and he wrapped his arm around her shoulder kissing her lightly. As they pulled away she moved round to lean her back against his chest, he placed a hand over her belly and rubbed it with a huge smile on his face.

Tony woke up with a stiff back, it was dark out and he glanced at his watch, 2:52 AM, he groaned, Ziva was asleep on his chest, they must have fallen asleep on the couch after the team had left. His hand was still resting on Ziva's belly which made him smile as he though about the child that would come into their lives in about 8 months time. He gently prodded Ziva to wake her, she groaned, still groggy from sleep, "Zi, wake up, we fell asleep, come on lets go to bed" she smiled as she realised his hand was still resting on her belly, she was glad she had met the love of her life and they were going to start a family together. When she started her Mossad training she doubted that she'd ever make it to 30, and she certainly never thought she'd have a loving fiancé and child.

The alarm went off at 5 AM, signalling it was time for Ziva to get up for her 5 mile run. She was surprised when she noticed Tony getting up as well and changing into running shorts and an OSU tee shirt. She smiled and walked over to him, he grabbed her by the waist pulled her close, kissing her passionately. "Mmm, morning" she said as they pulled away, Tony continued holding her in his embrace, "you are joining me this morning, yes?" she asked, "yeah, think I could do with a run after everything I ate last night" he patted his stomach, "and also, I want to run with my beautiful fiancée" this made her smile as he pulled her in for yet another passionate kiss, as they pulled away she whispered, "I think we should go now, or we'll be late" he nodded to show that he agreed.

They stepped out of the apartment and began stretching to ensure they didn't pull muscles as they ran, Tony couldn't help smacking Ziva lightly on the bum as she bent over to do a stretch. She stood up straight and looked into his eyes, she couldn't help but notice the cheeky smile that covered his face as she kissed him before they ran the 5 mile track near Ziva's apartment.

They were both puffing when they returned from their run together, Ziva went and had the first shower, allowing time for her to do her makeup and hair. Within 10 minutes she was out and he was in, she was choosing clothes to wear for the day when she was hit with sudden nausea, fortunately neither bothered to lock the door when they were in the bathroom so she was able to get to the toilet. Tony finished his shower and wrapped himself in a towel when Ziva was emptying her stomach contents, he sat next to her, pulling her hair back and rubbing her back slowly. Once the nausea had subsided, she brushed her teeth and Tony wrapped her in his arms once again. Neither were hungry so they got in the car and headed for the Navy Yard.

Due to the unexpected morning sickness Tony and Ziva walked into the bullpen 10 minutes late. Gibbs was sitting at his desk, he simply stared at the couple as they went to their desks, DiNozzo didn't need to ask, he knew what his boss wanted to know, "Sorry we're late, boss. Ziva had some morning sickness." Gibbs looked to Ziva, "You ok, David? If you still feel sick you are welcome to have the day off" she was slightly taken aback at how fatherly he was being, she'd always had a good relationship with Gibbs, and she was glad to know he was there to help her and Tony through the pregnancy, he _was_ going to be Grandpa Gibbs after all. "I am fine, it happens most mornings, although I am lucky, I am usually only sick once a day." she replied, Gibbs nodded. Ziva then remembered something she was meaning to ask him, "Gibbs, could you spare us for about half an hour? I think that Tony and I need to tell my father what is happening." Gibbs nodded, "MTAC's free if you wanna use it, and we don't have a case so I can get McGee to work the controls so no one else finds out about this." "Thankyou Gibbs" she replied before heading up the MTAC, Tony and McGee in tow.

Tony and Ziva stood together but at a respectable distance as Eli David's face appeared on the large screen. He did not know that Tony and Ziva were even together and he certainly didn't know they were engaged and expecting a child.

"Hello Papa" Ziva said, she hadn't had much contact with her father since Somalia. Eli David smiled, "Ziva, how nice it is to talk to you" his expression darkened slightly at the sight of Tony, "Agent DiNozzo, I assume you are well" Tony knew that this was just him being polite and he didn't really care if Tony was well but he replied anyway, "I'm good thanks, Director David". Ziva began, "Papa, I set this up because there are a few things I think you should know, I know we have not been on speaking terms lately but I wanted to tell you that Tony and I have been seeing each other for quite a while. She waited for a response, and couldn't help but notice the disappointment that washed over his face as she said those words, "Oh, I didn't realise that you were more than just partners", she sighed, "Yes, we are, in fact, we are engaged, and are expecting our first child" she hadn't realised how nervous she was until now. Her fathers face went white, "Your Pregnant! Ziva I thought that you're mother and I raised you to wait until marriage to have children" this angered Ziva, "I would never had told you if I knew you were going to react like this" she yelled. Eli began speaking to Tony now, "I suppose you are only marrying my daughter because you got her pregnant then?" he asked, "What?" Ziva shrieked, "You think that Tony would do that to me? You obviously do not know him the way I do, I _love_ him and he loves me too, I thought you would be happy that you are going to get your first grandchild, but you're reaction shows me that you obviously do not care, and that you want nothing to do with this child, and me. And now that I have seen what you are like, that is exactly what you'll get!" she turned to McGee and motioned for him to cut the video conference connection off, before Eli even had a chance to respond. Ziva was upset by her father's reaction, she walked out of MTAC and headed straight for the ladies room.

Ziva had barely reached the wash basins when the door to the ladies room opened and Tony entered, locking the door behind him, he walked over to Ziva and brought her into his chest, wrapping her in his large arms. She had tears streaming down her face and Tony could feel the large wet spot that was forming on his shirt. She stayed safely tucked in his embrace for a long time, when she finally pulled away she said, "I thought he would be happy, but instead he is acting like I am some filthy piece of rubbish he found in the street." Tony interrupted her, "You are NOT filthy, we are happy and that's all that matters, Ziva, I love you and I want to raise this baby with you." She nodded, "you're right, if he is going to act the way he did just then, he will have _nothing_ to do with this child, or us." She looked into his eyes and he took this opportunity to kiss her deeply. As they parted she washed her face and they headed back to the bullpen.


	12. Chapter 12

**I'm quite proud of myself, I am finding much more time to write this week than last, I admit that I'm not entirely happy with this chapter, but it is honestly the best I could do tonight, so I apologise for that. Please review to let me know how I am going, this chapter continues on the topic of Eli's reaction and shows how supportive the team are. I hope you enjoy it!**

Tony and Ziva walked into the bullpen to find Gibbs and McGee at their desks, and Abby talking to McGee. Despite washing her face Ziva's eyes were still slightly red and puffy from crying, and Tony's shirt was also a dead giveaway. Gibbs noticed this and got up from his desk and headed for the elevator, motioning for them to follow.

The elevator went dim and Gibbs turned to Tony and Ziva for and explanation, he knew she had gone to tell her father about her engagement and pregnancy, and that she'd come out of MTAC upset. He needed to know what happened in between. Ziva sighed before she began, "My father is disappointed in me, I told him about the engagement and he didn't care, then I told him about our baby and he basically said I was filthy. He said how he thought he raised me better than to have children before marriage…and he said that tony only proposed because I am pregnant" a single tear slipped down her cheek and she brushed it away quickly although she knew both Tony and Gibbs had seen it. Tony drew her into his chest and she buried her face, Gibbs was shocked that her father had said such a thing to his own daughter, he hated the way Eli treated Ziva when he was robbed of the chance of having his own grandchildren. He spoke as Ziva gently pulled away from Tony, "Ziva, if he is going to act like this then in my opinion he doesn't deserve to have anything to do with this baby, it's your choice, but that's my opinion. You are surrounded by people that love you and we will all be here to support you not only through the pregnancy, but with raising your child as well" she nodded, "Thankyou, Gibbs" he drew her into her chest briefly as he flicked the switch to make the elevator continue.

McGee had filled Abby in on the whole situation with Ziva's father whilst the others were in the elevator. As Ziva returned to the bullpen, both Abby and McGee rushed over to give her a hug. Abby got there first, "Oh, Ziva, I'm sorry" she said before pretty much repeating what Gibbs had said. When Abby was finally finished, McGee moved forward, "If there's anything I can do, let me know" he said with a smile and a hug, "Thankyou, McGee, but I will be fine, if he is going to act that way, I do not want anything to do with him." she gave him a small smile before returning to her desk. Gibbs was sitting at his desk, proud of how his team were so quick to reach out to her, offering support, and comforting her.

7 PM rolled around and Gibbs sent the team home, they'd had a slow day and he thought that after the horrible morning Tony and Ziva had, they might want some time to themselves. When they were walking down to the cars with McGee and Abby, Tony suggested that they all go out for dinner and a movie. McGee and Abby were quick to jump at the chance to dine out with their colleagues, it had been a while since they'd eaten out together. They decided on an Italian restaurant not far from the Navy Yard. They were seated at a table close to the kitchen. Tony ordered a bottle of wine for himself, Abby and McGee and a Pepsi for Ziva. When their drinks arrived they ordered their meals, Tony and McGee both ordered Pepperoni Pizza, Abby ordered Pasta Napolitano and Ziva ordered Pasta Carbonara. They chatted and joked as the waited for the meals to arrive, and when they did none of them hesitated to dig in, all hungry from their day at work. They headed to the cinema at 8.15 for an 8.30 showing of _James Bond: From Russia with Love_, Tony claimed that it was a classic and they must see it, none of them complained, they were too busy enjoying the evening out.

They walked out of the cinema at 10.10 PM, Tony and Ziva said goodbye to Abby and McGee as they headed for Tony's Mustang. Ziva fell asleep on the way home, the pregnancy was making her quite tired and spending the whole day out certainly didn't help her energy levels. As tony pulled into the parking space at her apartment he gently rubbed her arm, waking her up. She smiled and got out the car and he walked her to the apartment. He fumbled with his keys briefly before unlocking the door and letting them in. they were both tired from the days events, so they went straight to bed, skipping the usual hour or so of TV or reading.

The alarm woke them again at 5 AM that morning, Ziva was getting out of bed when she was hit with sudden nausea again, this was the part that she hated most about being pregnant. She crouched over the toilet, Tony took up the same position as he had the previous morning, holding her hair and rubbing her back. He hated the fact that pregnancy came with morning sickness, Ziva would certainly enjoy her mornings more if she didn't spend at least 10 minutes in the bathroom throwing up, but at the same time he was glad he was able to help the woman he loved through it, and in 8 or so months time, a new life would enter the world. Just as Ziva had never imagined herself being happily engaged or having a child, Tony never imagined himself being a father. He was frequently reminded of how immature he was, although that had reduced over the last year or so. Maybe he was maturing, he thought. He had only been truly in love once in his life and that was part of an undercover operation to catch and international Arms Dealer, but even then he didn't felt what he currently felt for Ziva, and he'd certainly never gone as far as having a child with a woman, meeting the parents was usually his biggest concern. His thoughts were interrupted when Ziva stood and walked to the wash basin to brush her teeth. "How are you feeling?" he asked as he wrapped his arms around her waist from behind, she replied with a nod, "Better now, as revolting as it is having my head stuck down the toilet it always makes me feel much better" she finished brushing her teeth and spun in his arms, "I love you, Tony, I am glad I have found someone who truly cares for me, unlike my father" he knew she was still upset about her fathers words the previous morning, he hugged her tighter and looked into her eyes, "I love you too, Ziva, more than you could imagine, and I love this baby too" he said as he placed a hand on her belly, she smiled and her eyes flickered to his lips, he took this chance to pull her closer, he felt her relax as he kissed her.


	13. Chapter 13

**I apologize for my slow updating! I have been busy and to be quite honest, I had writers block. This chapter is pretty short (Because of the writers block) but a fair bit happens. Thankyou for the favourites and reviews so far. I look forward to reading more reviews. Anyway, here it is! I hope you like it :)**

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><p>The elevator dinged and special agent McGee looked up from his desk in time to see Tony and Ziva separating from each other as the doors opened. Their relationship was still unknown to the rest of the NCIS office, and they were planning on keeping it that way until Ziva was noticeably pregnant. She was only 8 weeks pregnant currently so they had quite a while until she was unable to conceal her stomach with her clothing. McGee was smirking when the two walked into the bullpen, "What are you smirking at McGiggle?" Tony asked, "I just noticed you two were a bit close, in the elevator to be strictly professional" McGee said in a teasing voice, usually it was Tony who was teasing McGee, not the other way around. Tony continued the argument, "well, in case you have developed amnesia and have forgotten our recent announcements, I will refresh them for you. Ziva and I are in love, and we are going to get married and raise a family" "Tony, McGee was just teasing you, you just gave him exactly what he was looking for" Ziva said with a laugh as she walked over to Tony's desk to take a pen. He grabbed her wrist as she did so, which caused her to turn and face him, he moved his hands onto her hips and she smiled. McGee turned back to his computer, feeling weird about what was happening. One of the agents not part of the MCRT walked past and noticed this gesture, he knew that Ziva frequently invaded people's personal space but in the time he had been working at the Washington office he hadn't seen Tony get close with a co-worker like this. Gibbs walked into the bullpen, "Hey! I said no grab-ass, and if you two plan on keeping things a secret, I suggest you don't do that publicly" he said gesturing at them and then to the agent that was watching them. Ziva pulled herself away from Tony and returned to her desk.<p>

During their lunch break, Ziva walked down to the cafeteria in the Navy yard, purchasing subs for herself and Tony's lunch. She was ambushed by and employee from the legal department, she came and introduced herself, "Hello, Officer David, is it?" Ziva didn't know how she knew her name, as she hadn't spoken to her before, but nodded, allowing her to continue. "Amy Rawlins, I'm from the legal department, forgive me for asking this but, I heard a rumour that you and Agent DiNozzo are together, is this correct?" Ziva was slightly taken aback but wasn't surprised, considering their somewhat public display that morning, "Yes, Tony and I are together, we have talked it over with our superiors and they do not have an issue with it" she explained before the young blonde continued, "well, congratulations, he's quite the catch, he's so handsome!" Ziva chuckled, obviously this young woman was unaware of her past as a Mossad assassin. She said goodbye to the young woman before heading up to the bullpen to talk to Tony.

She placed the meatball sub on Tony's desk before she began speaking, "well, we are busted, it seems people saw us this morning and started rumours, a young woman from legal just came and asked me about it. She also said that you are quite the catch and very handsome, which I must say I agree with" "You could have denied it if you wanted" Tony said looking up at his pregnant fiancée, "And then how would I have explained this morning to people?" she asked, "besides, everyone would have found out eventually would they" she added rubbing her stomach. Tony smiled, "yeah I guess they would have, but since it's not a secret anymore..." he pulled her closer and kissed her, he could feel her reluctance at first but she slowly relaxed and her felt her lips part, deepening their kiss. Ducky walked in at this moment, he smiled at the couple, even though they were unaware of his presence, when they parted he stated, "Don't let Jethro catch you doing that. I though this relationship was a secret anyway?" he asked, Tony shook his head, "not any more", "Oh, I see, and the baby? Is that a secret?" "Yes, that _is_ and it _will _stay that way until Zi starts to show more." Ducky smiled, pulling up a chair to join the couple for lunch.

Ziva walked through the door to their apartment, glad to be home. She flopped onto the sofa, with Tony in tow. As they sat he wrapped his arms around her shoulders and kissed her temple. She looked into his eyes and kissed him deeply. She removed his shirt and began to undo his jeans as he carried her to the bedroom. He pulled her shirt over her head before pausing, "Zi, honey, this wont affect the baby will it?" Ziva shook her head, "No, it is perfectly fine to have sex while pregnant" she stated before kissing him. He removed the rest of her clothes and pushed her gently down onto the bed.

Tony and Ziva lay in silence after their 'tumble in the sheets' both equally satisfied. Tony gently grabbed Ziva's face and turned it towards him, and kissed her passionately. "In some ways, I'm glad it came out that we are together, now we don't have to hide it, and you can wear your ring to work" Tony said, Ziva beamed in response and tony knew that she was the happiest she'd been in a long time. God he loved her so much, he knew he'd found 'the one' and he was never, ever going to let her go.


	14. Chapter 14

**I know, I'm Terrible! I haven't updated in ages, but to be fair i've had some pretty big school commitments, as well as some personal issues to deal with, leaving minimal time for writing. I wasn't confident that I would get this up tonight, but I did. I will try to update more often, although i'm not sure that will happen as I have personal commitments tomorrow and i'm in the process of getting a job. I'm sorry, but I will try!**

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><p>Tony woke to his beautiful fiancée lying next to him that Friday morning, looked at the clock, <em>0615<em>, he frowned, normally she would be out running at this time. He laid down again and dozed until he felt the movement in the mattress signalling that Ziva was awake, "Didn't go for a run today?" he asked, she shook her head, "No, I wanted to sleep in, and then when we get to work I will have to organize an appointment to determine how far along I am". "Oh, fair enough" Tony replied, "anyway, I kinda like having you here when I wake up" he added with a classic DiNozzo grin that she loved so much. She leaned over so her face was close to his, their lips brushed together and he took this as an opportunity to kiss her, he felt her lips part and he pushed his tongue into her mouth. When they eventually parted, she sat up, swinging her legs out of the bed, "I am going to take a shower", he didn't reply, he was too busy staring at her ass in the very short shorts she wore to bed every night.

The pair strode into NCIS three minutes early, each booting up their computers and greeting McGee, who was sitting at his computer desk sipping a cup of coffee. Gibbs was a no show as of yet, but Tony was sure he would arrive within the next 2 minutes. Ziva picked up the phone on her desk and waited for an answer on the other end. _"Hello, you have reached Dr. Amanda Billings office, this is Kim speaking" _"Hello, I would like to make and appointment for ultrasound" "_Not a problem, we currently have an available appointment at 12.30 this afternoon, is that ok or would you like to make it next week?"_ "No, this afternoon is perfect, thankyou" _"I understand, have you had any previous appointments with us"_ "No, this will be the first"_ "I see, are you aware of how far along you are" _"No, sorry" _"Not a problem, If I could just get your name please, and the fathers name." _"Ziva David, and Anthony DiNozzo, is that everything you need to know?"_ "Yes that's it, Thankyou very much, we'll see you later today then. Buh-bye_" "Thankyou, goodbye"

Tony looked up expectantly at Ziva, "we have an appointment at 12.30" she stated, Gibbs walked in at this moment, "Gibbs, Tony and I have to leave for lunch a bit early today, we have an ultrasound at 12.30." "Uh-huh, that's fine, as long as you and the bub are healthy, I don't mind you having to duck out every now and then" She smiled, "Thankyou Gibbs, we appreciate it".

1200 rolled around before any knew and it was time for Tony and Ziva to head to their appointment. They took Tony's car, as it was roomier and she didn't like him driving her car. Tony pulled up outside and they headed in, hand in hand. Ziva made her way over to the desk, noticing the woman behind it had a name badge with 'Kim' on it, indicating it was the same woman from that morning, "Ziva David, I have an appointment for 12.30 today" the woman nodded, "welcome, take a seat, Dr Billings will be with you soon".

Ziva sat with Tony and soon enough the Dr called them into the ultrasound room, Ziva had to politely correct the pronunciation of her name as she quite often had to do before she lay on the bed with her fingers entwined in Tony's. The doctor got straight down to business, she was very professional and punctual but there was a warm, comforting feel about her too, she explained that the gel would be cold before she asked Ziva to lift her shirt. As she was pulling her shirt up to just under her bra, she was preparing herself for the question she though would come next, "if you don't mind my asking, what are these scars from?" Tony spoke up, "Sorry, doc, but that's personal" Ziva placed her hand on his arm, "Tony it is fine" she looked at Dr. Billings, "last summer, I was kept in a terrorist camp in Somalia, and I was tortured, hence the scars, I think you should also know that during that time I became pregnant, but miscarried shortly after" The doctors shocked expression only lasted a few seconds before she recovered, "I am very sorry, I cant even begin to imagine what you went through, I assume the miscarriage was to do with the conditions you were living in?" "yes they were, our doctor at work said he was confident that I could carry to term this time, as I have greatly improved my health since" the doctor nodded and continued with the ultrasound.

"Ok from what I can tell, you are 7 weeks into your pregnancy, and everything is what we expect at this stage. I would like to see you again at 12 weeks if that is ok, simply due to the previous miscarriage you mentioned." Ziva nodded, "also I want to extend my apologies for asking about your scars, that must have been hard" "no, it is fine, you are not the first, I can't change what happened, so I must get over it." The doctor was amazed at her strength. "Congratulations, by the way, there are photos at the desk for you to show your family, friends and colleagues. Tony and Ziva thanked the doctor and headed out of the room to collect their photographs.

**What do you think? Please review, or if you have any ideas please feel free to send me a Private Message and I will definately consider it! I would love to hear what you think. I have made a decision that after this story is completed then if I write again (which i'm not sure I will) then I will write X amount of chapters beforehand to avoid long waits like this for the readers. Anyway, please review, your feedback means alot to me! :)**


	15. Chapter 15

**Another update for you guys! I want to thank readers for reviews, favourites and follows :) They mean a lot to me, when I see an email notifying me of a review/favourite/follow it encourages me to write more, and update sooner. so thankyou again :)**

**I must admit, I had some writers block before writing this chapter, so i'm not sure what you might think of it, but from here i'm pretty sure i've got a good sense of direction as to where I will take it. Anyway, enough of me, I hope you enjoy it!**

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><p>Tony and Ziva strode back into the NCIS office at 1300 with subs and coffee for their colleagues. Gibbs was first to notice their arrival as McGee was on the phone. "How did you go?" he asked, directing the question mostly at Ziva, considering that she was the one actually carrying the child. "Very well, thankyou Gibbs, I am currently 7 weeks and she wants to see me again at 12, because of my previous miscarriage, so I will need to have the morning off again sometime, we have some photos if you'd like to see?" Gibbs nodded, taking in all the information she had just relayed to him, Ziva took the envelope out of her bag and opened it, revealing two photos from the ultrasound they had just attended. McGee had hung up the phone by this point and had caught the last of their conversation, both men studied the photographs before Gibbs wrapped Ziva in a comforting hug, "I am very proud of you David, you will make an excellent mum, and somehow I think that boofhead will make an excellent father" he said, indicating at Tony, Ziva smiled, "thankyou Gibbs, you have been so supportive" McGee placed his hand on Ziva's shoulder, "Congratulations Ziva, I'm sure you'll do great, but in order to survive this pregnancy, I suggest you go and show Abby those" he stated, pointing at the photographs. Chuckles filled the bullpen, as they all realised that McGee was probably right.<p>

Ziva pulled a face as the music from Abby's lab almost deafened her, she had to switch the music off before the happy Goth even noticed her presence, "Ziva!" Abby wrapped her friend in a warm, friendly squeeze, "Where did you and Tony go? I didn't see you on your lunchbreak" she asked, Ziva pointed to the envelope, "I had an ultrasound, Tony drove me, these are the pictures" "Ooooh! Lemme see!" Abby squealed before 'oohing' and 'aahing' over the images she now held in her hands, "Aww, that's cute, you guys will make great parents! Do you know whether it is a boy or a girl?" "No, it is a bit early to tell, considering it still looks kind of like a bake bean, and I'm not sure I want to know, Tony does though" Ziva smiled. Abby wrapped Ziva in another hug as she said that she would allow Abby to return to her work.

When Ziva entered the elevator back to the bullpen, she noticed that Ducky was in it, he gestured at the envelope in the former assassin's hand, "what have you got there, my dear?" he asked, Ziva smiled, "ultrasound photos, tony and I just had an appointment, do you want to see them?" she asked, "yes, yes, give me a look" the older Scotsman replied with a tone of excitement, "have you though about whether you want to know the gender?", "Tony does, I am not sure, I want it to be a surprise, but I also want to know" Ziva said, with a hint of confusion in her tone. The doctor simply smiled. She farewelled the older man as they came to her floor and strode out towards her desk, and handsome fiancé.

"What did Abby say?" Tony asked, "she was quite excited, she asked whether we want to know the gender of it, once I am far enough along" Tony smiled, "you know I do, what about you?", Ziva sighed "I am not sure". Tony recognised the confusion in her tone and let the subject drop, not only did he want to push her, but they had talked about the baby a lot since they got back and it would only be a matter of time before someone would overhear their conversation, and then it would spread around the office like an STI, and that wasn't something either of them wanted to happen.

With the end of the day fast approaching, it didn't come as a surprise to Ziva when Gibbs strode over to her computer and turned it off, he grabbed her coat and bag and then held it up for her as she got up. She put her coat on and then Gibbs pulled her in for another hug, "go home, get some sleep, you've got a long road ahead of you, sleep while you can" he kissed her forehead and she smiled as she grasped his shoulder, giving him a warm smile, she noticed that the smile infected him, before she walked out for the night with Tony a few steps behind her. Gibbs couldn't help but notice how happy she looked, he hadn't seen her smile like that since a long time before Somalia, and even then, they were few and far between. Her father hadn't made her life easy and he certainly wasn't going to stop there, just because she didn't want to see him, didn't mean that he wouldn't continue trying to run her life.

Tony looked over at Ziva for the third time as they drove home before she briefly caught his eye. "Something wrong, Tony?" she asked, "No, I was just thinking about how happy you looked today, I haven't seen you like that for quite a while, I mean sure you have been happy since Somalia, but not like you were tonight." He became aware that he was rambling when he noticed the small smirk on his fiancée's face, she laughed, "The baby isn't even born yet and your brain has already turned to mush, and I am happy, I have a wonderful fiancé who I love, very much, and all of the team is being so supportive, especially Gibbs, he is being so fatherly, it gives me the chance to have something that I never got as a child, it is making up for all those dance performances and birthdays that my father missed when I was growing up, and all those years I did things for his approval and never got, and most importantly, Gibbs is making up for the fact that my own father doesn't think I have valued anything I was taught as a child because I got pregnant before I got married" tony placed a hand on her leg and rubbed it soothingly as they continued their drive to their apartment.

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><p><strong>Please Review, your opinions mean alot!<strong>

**Also, if any of you have any ideas about the storyline dont hesitate to send me a message and i'll definitely take it into consideration :)**


	16. Chapter 16

**The number of weeks in bold is the number of weeks pregnant ziva is, at this point in the story. Here's the next chapter, hopefully updates will be more frequent over the next two weeks as I'm on holidays :)**

3 weeks later

**10 weeks**

Tony and Ziva strode into the bullpen that morning, their caseload had been pretty light over the last few weeks so their work involved mostly paperwork, much to everyone's disgust. Zia groaned as she sat down, her back and neck were giving her grief, she must have twisted it at the gym. Tony was worrying about her though, trying to get her to the doctor. "You really should get that checked Zi, make sure you're ok to be doing field work", "tony, I am fine, its just a bit stiff, I must have twisted it at the gym, its not a problem, honestly" "so if it isn't a problem, why are you wincing almost every time you move then?" he retorted. Gibbs walked into the bullpen, and overheard some of the conversation, "David, if there is something that may be preventing you from field work, you go and get it checked out, its not just you we have to worry about now" he said indicating at her stomach which was slightly larger than normal, but not enough to be detected by anyone who didn't know. Ziva sighed, "if I get checked out, will you stop nagging me?" all members of the team nodded, Ziva sighed again before picking up the phone for her local GP, booking an appointment for 1330 that afternoon.

Tony and Ziva headed down to Abby's lab with McGee and 4 subs for lunch at 1230. They had decided to eat down there as Abby was really busy with some evidence from another case, they walked in and Tony turned off the music, giving Abby, McGee and Ziva their subs. He put his arm around Ziva, "Do you want me to come with you to your appointment?" Ziva shook her had, "Tony, its just a sore back, ill be fine, and ill let you know what they said as soon as I get back, ok?". Abby noticed the conversation currently occurring, "What's wrong, Ziva? Is the baby ok? Are you ok?" Ziva smiled at Abby, "I am fine, and I'm sure the baby is too, I have a sore back and Tony, Gibbs and McGee are overreacting, its nothing" she stated, before tony started making a point that she winced almost every time she moved for the second time that day, prompting Ziva to roll her eyes and hit him on the chest lightly before pulling him in for a quick peck on the lips.

After lunch it was time for Ziva to go to her appointment, tony tried to take her there and go in with her, but she insisted she was fine and he should stay at work. He reluctantly agreed and let her go to the appointment herself, before she missed it.

Ziva sat in the waiting room, waiting patiently for the doctor to call her in, after a while she began to get drowsy and rest her eyes, before she was startled awake by the sudden calling of her name. Carefully she sat up, careful not to move her back too much more than necessary. She walked into the doctor's room and took a seat, waiting for the doctor to begin.

"Can you tell me why you're here then, Miss David?" the young blonde doctor asked, Ziva nodded "My back and neck are giving me trouble I think I twisted them the wrong way in the gym, but my partner and boss insisted I come in, considering its not just myself I have to worry about anymore" she said, patting her slightly swollen stomach, the young doctor smiled, "How many weeks along are you then?" "10" Ziva replied with a smile. "okay well hop on the bed, and ill take a look at your back and neck, and then I wouldn't mind taking your blood pressure too if that's ok?" the doctor asked, Ziva replied with a simple nod and hopped up onto the smaller than usual bed that occupied one corner of the small room. The doctor then checked over her back and took her blood pressure.

"Well, you're blood pressure is high and I would like it if you would see a Physio regarding your back and neck injuries. I don't want to alarm you when I ask this, but is there a known history of Polycystic Kidney Disease in your family?" Ziva nodded, "My mothers sister had it, is this an issue for me?" she asked, slightly worried, "It could be, high blood pressure and back pain are common symptoms, so id like it if we could do some tests to be sure. PKD is passed down through family members, so there is a chance your baby could be affected by this, but I think before we jump to any conclusions we need to get you tested." Ziva nodded, a lump rising in her throat, how would she tell tony that their baby could be affected by a disease that would end in complete Kidney failure? The doctor gave her a few helpful tips and information and booked an appointment for two weeks time to have an Intravenous Pyelogram, to help determine what the situation was. She explained to Ziva that she would be more sensitive to the risks of radiation, but it is generally a safe process. Ziva took in all this information and headed down to her car. She sat in the driver's seat and it was then that she was unable to stop the tears from welling in her eyes.

After calming herself, Ziva made her way back to NCIS, she was mentally preparing herself to tell the others the situation, but inside she was dreading it. The elevator doors opened, revealing the bullpen, with her team and Abby all inside it. She walked to her desk, placing her jacket and bag on the desk and turning to the others.

All eyes in the bullpen were on her, and she didn't like it, she knew they wanted answers but she didn't want to tell everyone at the same time, and she had to tell Tony first, he was the one this would affect the most and had the most to worry about. After she had told him, she would tell Gibbs and the others.

She walked quickly to Tony's desk, holding her hand out for him to take, "I need to talk to you…in private" his face immediately changed into a concerned expression, worrying what his fiancée needed to talk to him about. She led him to the cafeteria, and thankfully it was empty. She sat down and was immediately bombarded with questions.

**Please don't be hard on me if some of the medical information is incorrect, I am not a doctor, in fact, I'm far from it. So I am just going from what I have read on various websites. Please review and tell me what you think :)**


	17. Chapter 17

**To be perfectly honest, I was hoping for a larger response to this chapter than what I recieved. Are you still enjoying it, or not so much?  
>Thankyou to those who did reviewfavourite/follow though! It does mean a lot! :)**

**Anyways. Here is the next chapter, please Read and Review, so I know what you guys are thinking. Also, I am open to suggestions, so don't hesitate to PM me :) I will definitely take your feedback on board and try my best to incorporate it.**

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><p><em>She walked quickly to Tony's desk, holding her hand out for him to take, "I need to talk to you…in private" his face immediately changed into a concerned expression, worrying what his fiancée needed to talk to him about. She led him to the cafeteria, and thankfully it was empty. She sat down and was immediately bombarded with questions.<em>

"Zi, what's wrong? Should I be worried?" Tony asked. Ziva could feel the lump rising in her throat again, "The doctor checked my back, and she suggested physio, she also checked my blood pressure, which is high. I have to go back in just before the next ultrasound to have and Intravenous Pyelogram, because.." she trailed off, tears welling in her eyes, "there is a chance I have Polycystic Kidney Disease, which means the baby could have it too" the tears began to fall and she found herself being held in Tony's arms. Her tears flowed freely for a while, and she couldn't be sure, but she thought Tony had shed a tear or two as well. She composed herself and returned to the bullpen, to three very concerned colleagues.

Gibbs concern grew when he noticed Ziva's eyes were slightly puffy and Tony was incredibly quiet. He summoned the two into the elevator and stopped it, patiently waiting for an update. Ziva fell into Tony's arms again whilst they were explaining to Gibbs the situation. As she pulled away from Tony, Gibbs asked, "If the tests do come back positive, what can we do?" he hated asking, but he knew he had to, "There is no cure, the disease gradually progresses until the Kidney's go into full failure, there are preventative methods but that will not stop it, and if they are positive, there is a 50% chance the baby will have it too, and it is often more severe in children." Tears began to flow down her face and it was Gibbs this time, who pulled her into his arms, muttering comforting words that only she could hear.

Gibbs offered to fill in the rest of the team and offered Tony and Ziva the rest of the day off. Ziva thanked him and gave him another hug before heading out to the NCIS parking lot with Tony. They were almost at their car when Ziva's phone rang, she answered the call without even looking at the Caller ID and was slightly taken aback when she heard the director's voice on the other end of the line. "David, can you come up to my office? Now" Ziva agreed despite the director's snappy tone and turned around with Tony, "Director wants to see me, don't know why" she explained as they took the elevator up to the bullpen.

"Thought I sent you two home" Gibbs said as they walked back through the bullpen, "Director called Ziva, wanted to see her ASAP" Tony explained, Gibbs frowned, not knowing what this was about. Tony and Ziva walked into the director's office and sat down at the large table in front of the desk. The director joined them after he signed a few documents on his desk. "Agent David, I don't think you will like what I am about to tell you, but I believe I should" Ziva took a deep breath, uncertain of what he was going to tell her, "I have just been informed that your father is coming to Washington, he arrives the day after tomorrow at 1430, said he wanted to clear the air with you" The director continued. Ziva gritted her teeth before responding, "I do not want to see him, I didn't have contact with him after Somalia and when I did contact him recently he treated me like rubbish. I don't want him near me." Vance nodded, "I understand that, but I can't stop him from coming here." Ziva nodded, "I know, thankyou for the heads up" she said quickly before leaving the office. She strode into the bullpen, and was immediately confronted by Gibbs, "What did Leon want, Ziva?" he asked, she looked him in the eye, "He wanted to give me a heads up, my father is coming here in two days." Gibbs eyed her cautiously, "do you want to see him?" he asked, "No, but we can't stop him coming here, it is his choice." Gibbs nodded, "well, if you don't want to see him, I will do all I can to keep him away from you." she nodded, "thankyou, but I can handle my father" she smiled and took Tony's hand, "I will see you tomorrow", with that she walked out of the building with Tony.

Gibbs had Abby, Ducky and McGee assembled in Autopsy, as it was most private and was filling them in on the whole situation with Ziva. He didn't leave anything and after hearing of the health concerns Ziva was currently facing Abby burst into tears and huddled into McGee's chest. "How is she doing? That is a lot to take in, especially with her father also." Ducky asked, Gibbs nodded, "She's staying strong, but I don't think she will be able to hold that up for long, but I'm sure Tony can handle that. And I will handle her father."

Meanwhile, Ziva had slumped into the passenger seat of Tony's Mustang, and the tears had begun to flow, Tony bundled her up in his arms and held her whilst she cried, "I do not want him here." She sobbed, he sighed, stroking her hair, she had enough to deal with without her father making things worse. He kissed her temple and continued to hold her until she had calmed before driving her home.

At 2100 a knock came at the door, Tony opened it to find Abby standing anxiously on the doorstep, she hugged Tony tightly, "Oh Tony, it isn't fair, she's had to go through so much and her father just keeps making it worse, I hate him" Tony tried to comfort her, "shhh, Abs, I know, I hate him too, but right now she needs support and strength, okay?" Abby nodded, "where is she?" Tony pointed to the lounge room and Abby walked down the short hall until the former assassin was in view. She was sitting on the couch, blankly staring at the TV, Tony had put a movie on for her, but neither woman knew what it was. "hey, Zi" Abby said, taking a seat next to her friend, Ziva looked up and gave a small smile, "Hello, Abby, Gibbs filled you in then?", the Goth nodded, "I'm really sorry Ziva, it isn't fair", Ziva shook her head, "No, it isn't, but I will just have to wait for the tests to be done, and dealing with my father shouldn't be too hard, he's not as strong as he used to be, he is getting older." Abby took Ziva's hand in hers and held it for a while, silently comforting her friend. Tony sensed that they needed some time, so he gave them the space they deserved, grateful for all the lovely and supportive friends they had.

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><p><strong>I am hoping to get the next chapter up by Tuesday :) maybe sooner if I get a large enough response. :)<strong>


	18. Chapter 18

**I was going to publish this last night, but I wrote it late, and thought I'd wait and read it through when I wasn't tired. Good thing I did! A few bits needed some serious changing!**

**I hope you like it! I don't like Eli so the relationship between father and daughter was never going to be a good one!**

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><p>Tony and Ziva held hands as they waited at the tarmac for the arrival of Director Eli David, Ziva was not impressed by her father's choice to come to Washington, but she knew if she did not see him, he would continue to try and contact her until she gave in.<p>

Tony rubbed her back reassuringly when her grip tightened on his hand as the door of the Mossad private jet opened. Ziva was unimpressed further when she noticed the Mossad operative that disembarked the aircraft first, it was Liat. Ziva did not like her at all, she was rude and thought of herself of Ziva's replacement. Her thoughts of Liat faded as her father too got off the plane followed by Malachi. Eli frowned noticing the contact between his daughter and Agent DiNozzo before coming over and greeting the couple.

"Father" Ziva nodded her head as her father approached, a lot of the anger from their previous MTAC conversation remained, but Ziva did her best to be civil. Eli stretched his arms out for a hug from his only remaining child, but slowly let them drop to his sides when Ziva brushed him off. Eli looked down at his daughter's stomach, noticing the barely visible bump, and sighed, "You have decided to keep the baby then, yes?"

Ziva made what sounded like a gagging noise, "Keep it? ...of course I am going to _keep it_, this is my _child_ you're talking about! How could you possibly think that I wasn't going to keep it, just because you're jealous that you failed as a father and husband you think I should not have to same privileges, is that it?" Ziva's voice grew louder and angrier as the sentence went on, Tony just glared at the Mossad director. Eli turned to look at Liat and Malachi who had watched the exchange from a distance, "we will be riding with Agent DiNozzo and my daughter to the NCIS headquarters, get the stuff from the jet and meet me at their car". The two Mossad operatives nodded and disappeared into the jet. Tony, Ziva and Eli walked to the car and sat in silence as they waited for Malachi and Liat to move the stuff into the Charger.

The drive to NCIS was a silent one, Ziva drove making the trip as quick as possible and Tony accompanied her in the front seat. She had her hand on the centre console of the car and Tony placed his hand on top, clearly not bothered by Ziva's father or the two Mossad operatives sitting in the back seat. Ziva smiled at him as she pulled into the NCIS parking lot. Tony and Ziva escorted Eli, Liat and Malachi into the NCIS building, Gibbs gave Ziva a compassionate look as her and Tony took her father up to see Director Vance before he shot Eli one of his famous Gibbs death stares.

Once they had reached Director Vance's office, Tony and Ziva left Eli, Liat and Malachi in his hands, eager to get rid of them. Vance let them into his office almost immediately. "Eli, its good to see you" Vance greeted the older man, "You too, Leon" Eli replied. "I hate to say this, but your daughter doesn't have any enthusiasm for your presence, she doesn't want anything to do with you to be perfectly honest" Vance said, somewhat grimly, Eli simply nodded, "Yes, I know, she didn't seem to impressed to see me when she picked me up, America has changed her, she used to be far more responsible when she was working for Mossad. Now, not so much" Vance knew what he was insinuating, he thought she was irresponsible because she got pregnant, although Vance knew Eli was far from perfect, his friendship with the Mossad director had been waning since Ziva came to work for NCIS, he didn't agree with the way he treated his daughter and he knew this influenced their relationship. "Eli, her first reaction when she found out you were coming to America was to make it clear that she didn't want anything to do with you, now you're my friend, but she's my employee and I must respect her wishes. Please ensure me you will not harass her, she will talk _if_ and when she is ready" Eli nodded, "Thankyou, Leon" and turned to leave.

Ziva was in the ladies room when Liat approached her, "I have heard that you do not want you're father here, why?" Liat asked in an accusing tone, "Why! Maybe because of the way he treated me the last time I spoke to him, I'm sure you've heard all about it." Ziva scoffed. Liat smiled, "He was right, you know, he is a decent man, I'm sure you were raised to have more sense than to get pregnant to a man you are not married to" "Oh, and I suppose you are perfect in his eyes, yes? I do not care if he does not agree with the relationship I have with Tony, I love him and I'm going to have this baby with him, Eli has controlled me for too long, don't make the same mistake, Liat" she almost spat the words at the younger woman as she walked confidently out of the ladies room.

When Ziva got back to the bullpen she saw that her father was there, she sighed, she would have to tell him about the chances of her having Polycystic Kidney Disease at some point, why not make it now, that way there wasn't an excuse for him staying longer than he needed. "Gibbs, can you spare Tony and me for a while? I need to speak to my father about …things." Gibbs nodded, "Go, Ziver, take as long as you need".

Ziva and Tony led her father to the NCIS conference room and sat on one side with Tony while her father sat on the other side. "I was not going to tell you about this now, but I figure I must tell you eventually. I have to go and have an Intravenous Pyelogram done next week, because there is a chance I have got Polycystic Kidney Disease." She left this to sink in for a moment and as her fathers shocked expression faded he started to get defensive, "You weren't going to tell me! Ziva, how can you think that is something that I shouldn't know? Do you think I am such a heartless monster that I wouldn't care about your health?" Ziva took all this in, "Well you were hardly there for me when you found out about us, and the baby. And you sent me to die in a desert! How does that tell me that you _care_? It tells me that it wouldn't have bothered you if I did die out there. This disease could send me into complete Kidney failure by the time I get to 60 and affect our unborn child and you are worried because I didn't tell you the moment I found out?." Eli looked at his daughter and her fiancé, "This could affect your child?" he asked. Ziva nodded slowly, sadly. "Have you thought about abortion? It is logical" he said calmly, this really set Ziva off, "Abort? I do not even know if I have the disease yet and you want me to kill our unborn child? Are you really that heartless? I honestly thought more of you, I don't know why I would, you were never there for me, or Tali. Don't expect to see this child, you are dead to me." Ziva knew her words were harsh, but she was sick of the way he treated her. She got up and walked out of the conference room, Tony wasn't far behind. Eli was still sitting, numbed by his daughter's harshness.

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><p><strong>What did you think? Loved it? Hated it? Let me know in a review!<br>I'd love to hear what you think of Eli's arrival :) **


	19. Chapter 19

**Firstly, I'd like to thank you all for the review/favourite/follows I received for the last chapter. Your opinions do mean a lot!**

**This chapter is a bit longer than the others, and because of that took me longer to write, also I was doubting myself, thinking that this chapter isn't very good, so I read it through like 7 times. **

**In this chapter, I have attempted to repair the relationship between Ziva and Eli a little bit. Most of you agreed with the reactions that Ziva had to her father, and this has made me feel a whole lot better, It was a very hard few chapters for me to write, as I do not like Eli and Liat, so naturally I am not going to write wonderful things about them, but because of this it was very difficult to keep them in character. I appreciate all the feedback I have received and hope i continue to get review/favourite/follows!**

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><p>The next day came and Ziva began to have doubts about whether the harshness of her words to her father were necessary, "Tony, you do not think I was too harsh on my father yesterday?" she asked when they were in the bullpen alone, "No, I think you said what needed to be said, he hasn't been there for you, and he needed a wake up call." Ziva frowned, "Tony, it was late in the day, why would he need waking up?" Tony chuckled, "Its and expression, Zi, I thought you pretty much had these expressions down pat, but I guess there will always be some you haven't heard." Ziva laughed, when she first came to NCIS she would be slightly embarrassed and annoyed at getting it wrong, but it happened so often it didn't bother her anymore. Tony noticed the concern that still masked her face and got up to wrap his arms around her waist, "Look, Zi, if you feel bad, then maybe you should apologize, but if you ask me, he deserved it." She nodded and gave him a quick peck on the lips, "Hey! What did I say about grab-ass in my bullpen?" Gibbs yelled as he strode into the bullpen, "Ziva, I just spoke to your father, he has decided that he's going to leave late tomorrow morning" Ziva nodded, and Gibbs continued, "He also said that he wants to have dinner with you and DiNozzo tonight at the restaurant in his hotel, 1900. He said something about clearing the air after yesterday, something you wanna tell me David?" Ziva sighed, she didn't want to have dinner with her father, but it would help repair the damage she caused yesterday, she had meant most of what she said, but the last bit was pushing it a bit.<p>

Gibbs continued to stare at her, waiting for an explanation, "I may have said some things yesterday that could have been a bit hurtful…I should apologize and at least make an effort, I can't stay mad forever, and I'll likely have to see him again someday." Ziva looked at the floor briefly before looking up at her boss, "ok, well you two head home, and Ziva" "Gibbs?" "You call me if there are any issues, got it?" She nodded and grabbed her bags before heading home with Tony to change.

Ziva peered into her closet, trying to find something to wear. Her fathers hotel was quite fancy so she thought she'd wear a dress, it was just deciding which one that was the problem. She eventually decided on her black dress, it was simple and elegant, it hugged her body and came to just above the knee and the back was full, with some silver detailing, so it didn't show her scars from Somalia. Tony decided on a black suit with silver tie, to compliment the detailing on the back of her dress. At 1845 they got into Tony's mustang and drove to her father's hotel.

As they pulled up outside, Ziva spotted her father standing next to the valet, he was dressed in an expensive Italian suit, very similar to Tony's and a gray shirt, he had a black and purple striped tie on. Ziva frowned, she was sure that it was the tie she had given him a few years previous, she didn't think he liked it much, but maybe she was wrong, or maybe he was trying to get in her good books. As Ziva approached her father she took a deep breath, she was still angry at him but saying he was dead to her probably was a bit much. "Father, I must admit I was surprised when you asked us here tonight, especially after the way I spoke to you yesterday. For that, I am sorry, but most of it, I did mean." She knew it wasn't the best apology in the world but she still had a lot of anger for the man, and most likely always would. Eli nodded, "I know I have failed you as a father, and I don't agree with the pregnancy, but I should have been more understanding, America has changed you, I don't know what I was thinking when I thought it wouldn't, but I was hopeful that you would always stay at Mossad and be under my control." Ziva nodded, "Perhaps we should go inside and continue this? I don't think the street is the best place to settle it."

The three sat at the table that had been reserved for them, no one spoke until their meals had arrived, creating a very awkward atmosphere. Ziva was about the bring up the topic they had been talking about outside when Eli beat her to it, "I have seen from this visit that Agent DiNozzo has a lot of love for you, but I still do not agree with your methods, and I am sure you do not agree with my parenting skills. I am sorry about some of the things I said, but for most of it there was truth behind my words. I do think you should abort, and not have a child until you are clear of this disease, and I am sure that the doctors would agree with me." Anger flared up in Ziva again, why could he not take anything on board that she had said, "_If_ I do have the disease, the baby still has a 50% chance of not having it, I think that they are reasonable odds, and there is not guarantee that I have it, you are jumping to conclusions before you have all the facts. This is what made me so angry yesterday, you are not able to listen to what _I_ want, and you spend your time trying to control me when I don't need someone to baby me. I am grown now, father, you need to let me go and make my own decisions with the man I love." Irritation grew more and more obvious in her tone. Tony took this chance to intervene, "Look, Director David, I know you think you know what is best for Ziva, but she is going to marry me, you need to respect this, and give us space to make our own decisions. Ziva is going through a lot at the moment and has been through a lot since Somalia. Some of which could have been avoided if you didn't send her there in the first place! And I mean no disrespect to you, but I think you need to start respecting Ziva's wishes. She needs to control her own life for once." Ziva was so grateful to Tony right now, although she had cleared the air somewhat she still didn't want her father to be around their child. She still had some love for the man but most of that love had died with her in Somalia, as she sat there each day, trying to make it through the torture she wondered why he would send her there, and why he wasn't coming to help her…she hated him for it and she wasn't sure she'd ever be able to forgive him enough to go back to their old ways. This visit had showed her that he didn't care about the love she had for Tony or the baby they were going to have, it also helped her make the decision about his future role in her life.

After dinner, Tony and Ziva said goodbye to the Mossad Director and headed home, the dinner hadn't gone as Ziva had hoped, and they didn't mend as many bridges as she hoped. Tony could sense the relief that Ziva was feeling that she didn't have to be around her father any longer, he decided it was probably wise to let the subject drop for the moment. He didn't like Eli and didn't want him to have anything to do with their child, but that was up to Ziva, he'd let her choose.

The tension between her Eli and Ziva was obvious to the whole team the next day at NCIS, Ziva and Tony had arrived at work at 0700 that morning, and the tension was present right from the moment Eli walked out of the elevator at 0900 with Liat and Malachi. Ziva and Tony were escorting them to the airfield where the Mossad jet would be waiting for him at 1110, they didn't have to leave until 1045, so there was actually no reason for Eli and his 'escorts' to be at NCIS so early, and Ziva didn't even hesitate to make them aware of this. Eli spent most of the morning in the directors office, possibly avoiding his daughter and her team, while Malachi and Liat spent the morning making casual conversation every now and then in the bullpen. Liat didn't hesitate to show her dislike for the older, more experienced Israeli. Ziva thought jealousy was the main reason Liat was the way she was.

Finally it was time for Tony and Ziva to escort the three Mossad employees to the airfield, the drive there was tense, all five were keen to get out of the car. When they arrived Malachi and Liat jumped out and started grabbing their stuff out of the back of the Charger, whilst Eli spoke to his daughter. "I am sorry for the troubles we have had Ziva, I was hoping to clear the air more than what we did, but I guess we are too different now." Ziva nodded slowly, she knew it was true, and there was no point in denying it. She gave her father a very brief hug. "If you are ever in Israel again, come and show me the baby, yes? I do not think I will come to America again unless it is on business." "We will, Shalom." Ziva was shocked that her father was never coming back to America, unless on business. To tell the truth she was also relieved, it gave her the chance to live her life the way she wanted. "Shalom Ziva, Shalom Tony" Eli said and he boarded the plane. Tony wrapped his arm around Ziva and lightly kissed her temple, sensing her relief that this visit was finally over.

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><p><strong>Yay, Daddy David is gone! Sorry, I just don't like him, have I mentioned that? :)<br>Please, please review. The next chapter shouldn't be too far away, I just have to work out what i am going to do, because the Intravenous Pyelogram for Polycystic Kidney Disease will probably come next...anyway, Review please! **


	20. Chapter 20

**I want to thank you all for taking the time to read and review this Story! I hope you continue to enjoy it as it is far from finished!  
>I didn't think that I was going to write again after this, but after the reviews of the last 5 or so chapters, especially, I am thinking that I will write again. Maybe a NCIS fic or maybe another show, I'm not sure yet. <strong>

**So here's the next chapter, I didn't find it as hard to write as I originally thought. I hope you guys like it. Once again, I'm not a doctor, so the information about the Intravenous Pyelogram is just going by what I have researched. Please tell me what you thought of this chapter in a Review!**

**Enjoy!**

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><p><strong>12 Weeks<strong>

Ziva woke early Tuesday morning, today was the day she would have her Intravenous Pyelogram done to determine if she has Polycystic Kidney disease. Her appointment was at 1030 so she and Tony would go to work first. Vance hadn't given them any major cases for the time being, knowing with Ziva's father in town the week previous and the issues Ziva was facing, they would be too short on people to work any major cases. They had just wrapped up a minor case and all that was left to do was the paperwork and final reports.

Tony and Ziva walked into NCIS at 0700, and were greeted by McGee and Abby who were talking in the bullpen, "Hey" they called out to the couple in synchronisation, both agents replied and then engaged in a casual conversation waiting for their boss to arrive. It wasn't long before the man in question walked into the bullpen, instead of heading for his desk he bent over Ziva's placing his hands on the desk top. "Don't you have an appointment today, Ziva?" he asked, Ziva nodded, "Yes, Gibbs, I do, but not until 1030, so Tony and I came in for the morning to finish our reports." Gibbs didn't want her working, he wanted her home resting, but he respected her decision, "Right, well I want you both gone by 0945, leave yourself plenty of time, you need to be as relaxed as possible" Ziva nodded once again, "Gibbs. I will be fine, stop worrying, whatever happens, we can deal with it." Gibbs admired his agents' strength, she would be scared, but was staying strong for the team's sake, and Tony's. Abby mentioned that she should go and get to work, she said goodbye to the team, "Ziva, come down and see me before you go, ok." She said it in a way that Ziva knew was an order, not an option, and simply nodded her head before she got started on her reports.

At 0925, Ziva mentioned that she was going to see Abby and told Tony to meet her in the bullpen in 15 minutes so they could be ready to go. Ziva walked out of the elevator and turned Abby's music down so they could talk. "You came!" the Goth exclaimed when she registered who it was that had turned the music down, Ziva chuckled, "I knew if I didn't, then you would kill me." Abby also laughed, "Me? Kill the ex-Mossad assassin, I don't think so!" both women laughed and joked a bit longer. Ziva was slightly taken aback when Abby suddenly wrapped her in a big, tight hug, but hugged her back almost immediately. "Oh, Ziva. I'm so worried about what they will say today. Everyone here really loves you and if anything happened, I don't know what I would do. You're one of my best friends, Ziva. I just want everything to be normal and everyone be happy." A tear slipped down Ziva's cheek, "Abby, I know you are worried, but honestly I will be fine. If I do have the disease then we can deal with it, and if I don't, we can concentrate wholly on this baby." Abby released Ziva and saw the tear rolling down her friend's cheek before she quickly brushed it away, hoping the Goth didn't see it. Abby looked at the clock, "Shoot, what time are you meant to be going?" she asked, "We are leaving at 0945, what time is it?" Abby turned to look at the agent standing before her, "You better go, Tony will be expecting you. Ziva, good luck, I hope everything turns out ok." This time it was Abby turn to cry, Ziva hugged her again briefly and reassured her before she walked out of the Lab into the elevator.

Ziva walked into the bullpen and collected her bag, Tony was ready and waiting. Gibbs and McGee both came over and gave her a hug, and wished her the best of luck. She smiled gratefully and headed down to the NCIS car park with Tony, ready for him to drive her to the Radiology department in the hospital.

The wait was quite short, and both Tony and Ziva were nervy. A young female technician with deep mahogany hair and brown eyes came out and called Ziva's name. Tony gave his fiancée a quick kiss and squeezed her hand before she got up to follow the x-ray technician to the room. Ziva sat in the chair provided and listened to the young woman in front of her, "Now, Miss David, it says in your records that you are pregnant, you are 12 weeks?" Ziva nodded, "Ok, well I assume you have not had this done before, so first, I would like you to go and use the bathroom. Then I will inject a dye into a vein in your arm and you will have to remain still for about an hour whilst we take some images of how the dye collects in your urine. We will place a compression belt over your stomach, this helps the dye to remain in your kidneys and then before we take the final image, I will ask you to use the bathroom again to see how the bladder has emptied. You may then resume your normal diet and we will get the results to you as soon as we can. Is that ok?" Ziva smiled at the woman nervously and nodded, before getting up to use the bathroom.

When Ziva returned to the room there was a small table next to the chair in which she had been sitting, on it sat a needle with the dye inside. The technician came over once again, "I understand that you are probably nervous, everyone that comes through here usually is, so I will start when you are ready." Ziva smiled gratefully, "I appreciate it, but if it's ok I would like to get it over with." The young woman nodded, "Ok, I am going to inject the dye, you will probably feel burning in your arm, and a metallic taste may develop in your mouth, these are normal reactions and will disappear quickly. Some people experience nausea, headaches or vomiting after the dye is injected and this is also normal, just let me know if you experience these symptoms." Ziva nodded and waited for the needle to enter her arm.

The burning up Ziva's arm and the metallic taste quickly subsided like the technician had said, but it wasn't long before those feelings were replaced with nausea. She notified the technician but indicated that it was passing as she would be fine. A wide belt was placed around her belly, "This will probably feel really tight, but I can assure you it will not harm you or your baby, we wouldn't do it if there was any risk." Ziva nodded and sat still whilst the pictures were being taken.

Tony was pacing the waiting room, Ziva had been in there 30 minutes, he had no idea how long it would take so he went and asked at the desk. "Excuse me, could you please tell me how long it takes to have an Intravenous Pyelogram?" the receptionist nodded, "About an hour usually, you're waiting for the dark haired woman that went in about half an hour ago?" Tony nodded, "then she's about half way through, can I offer you a coffee to pass the time?" "That would be great thankyou" he smiled gratefully and returned to his seat. _She's only half way through? Waiting this long for her has almost killed me, how am I going to wait for another 30 minutes without going insane!_ His thoughts were interrupted when a coffee mug was placed in his hand, "There you go, try not to get worked up too much, I'm sure everything will be fine." Tony gave the receptionist another grateful smile and sipped his coffee. _This is going to be a long wait._

Nobody at NCIS could really concentrate on what they were supposed to be doing, everyone was too worried about Ziva. Abby had spent the whole morning looking at one piece of evidence when usually she could process four or five piece in that time. Gibbs spent his time wandering between Abby, Ducky and McGee. Ducky spent his time reading and re reading the same line on his report and McGee was shocked to find himself googling Polycystic Kidney Disease.

"Miss David, were ready to take the final images, so if you could please go the bathroom again?" Ziva nodded and headed out of the small room, eager to stretch her legs. She returned and once again sat in the chair, and waited for the final images to be taken. "Ok, Miss David, were all done. We have to process these and send them to your doctor, but you should get the results in the mail within a few weeks." Ziva nodded, she was glad that it was over, but anxious to get the results. She walked back out to where Tony was waiting, he had fallen asleep in his chair, she gently prodded him and he woke instantly jumping up and placing his arms around her. She smiled, "How did it go?" he asked, she smiled nervously, "It wasn't too bad, I will get the results in a few weeks." Tony grabbed her hand and walked her out to the car.

They decided to have lunch out, by the time they would have got back to NCIS it would be lunch anyway, so they figured it couldn't hurt being a little bit longer. They chose a café that wasn't too far from the Navy yard and ordered their lunches, chatting happily while they ate their food. At 1300 the couple decided they should head back to work, their co-workers would no doubt want to know how Ziva went.

When they walked back into the bullpen they were surprised to see everyone sitting and waiting for them. Gibbs and McGee were at their desks, Abby was at Ziva's and Ducky was seated at Tony's. When they realized that Tony and Ziva were back, all sprang from their seats and walked over to greet the pair. Gibbs was the only one that said anything, McGee and Ducky were just waiting and Abby looked sick with worry. "How did it go, Ziver?" he asked, placing a hand on her shoulder, Ziva smiled, "Fine, it took about an hour, painless, except from burning sensations when they injected me." "And the results?" McGee asked, "They will be sent to me within a few weeks, so no more worrying until the envelope arrives, yes?" Gibbs brought her into his chest, hugging her gently before releasing her, Abby looked less worried than before and pulled the Israeli in for another hug. Ducky and McGee followed suit. They were glad the Intravenous Pyelogram wasn't too bad, now it was just the waiting that was making them anxious.

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><p><strong>I think I may be able to get the next chapter up today! if not tomorrow morning, depending on the response to this chapter.<br>Please Review! **


	21. Chapter 21

**Next chapter as promised! It is later than I was hoping, but I had to do some stuff for my mum.**

**I know its short, it's like a filler, I just couldn't put this into the next chapter and I didn't want to leave it out :)**

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><p>Two days had passed since Ziva had her Intravenous Pyelogram, and anxiety was still a common emotion among the team, and it probably would be until Ziva received that envelope telling her whether or not she had a disease that would result in complete kidney failure by the time she was 60. If this was the case, it meant that more than half her life had already gone, and her and Tony's unborn child could have the same fate. The topic was touch and go with the whole team, each member dealing with it differently. Tony was worried, and had every right to be, he didn't joke as much and Ziva had to plead with him to return to his normal self, reminding him that they would get through it. Gibbs acted as the rock, allowing the team to come to him and voice their concerns, although his went very deep. The thought of losing his second daughter scared him and he was determined to do anything to help. Abby and McGee spent free time on the internet, searching for ways to help cure the disease and Ducky spent most of the time in Autopsy, thinking. It was something he did quite well and it helped calm his mind.<p>

Ziva had a carefree attitude that Gibbs knew was a mask. A mask to hide the way she really felt: scared, and alone. She knew she wasn't alone in this but it just felt that way. She told the team almost every single day that 'they would worry about the results when they arrived, and until then they should continue as normal, as there was nothing any of them could do'. The mask was the way she functioned, because of that mask she had got through her challenges in life where many people would have crumbled. Tony and Gibbs had seen it the most: The death of Ari, The death of Jenny Shepard, The death of Michael Rivkin, The feeling of betrayal when Tony lost trust in her, Watching Tony walk off with Jeanne, The time when everyone thought Tony was dead, The recent struggles with her father and the biggest one of all, Somalia. That mask saved her life countless times in the short five and a half years they had known her and the whole team was sure that it had saved her countless times in the past with her sister, constant search of approval from her father and time as an assassin. That mask may have saved her, but it also made her stubborn, and sometimes uptight, people thought she was emotionless and didn't have a heart. She did, and her closest friends knew it, she just kept it guarded so she didn't get hurt once again. All the events of her life made her who she was, and the team loved her for it, the good and the bad.

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><p>Ziva entwined her fingers with Tony's as they walked across the parking lot. It was the day of Ziva's second ultrasound. They were both excited to see how much their child had grown since their last ultrasound 5 weeks ago. They patiently sat in the waiting room, waiting to be called into the small examination room by Dr. Amanda Billings.<p>

"Ziva, Tony. Good to see you, come in" the doctor smiled. The pair walked into the room and Ziva lay on the bed. "Well, that bumps a bit more noticeable now isn't it? I assume you are aware of what we will do today?" Dr. Billings asked and Ziva nodded, "Very well then, this might be a bit cold." She squeezed the gel onto Ziva's tanned, slightly swollen stomach and placed the wand over the top. After a few moments an image appeared on the screen.

"Alright, everything looks normal for what we would expect at this stage in your pregnancy. Do you have any concerns or issues that you feel the need to talk about?" the real answer to that question was 'yes, they did' but Ziva replied with a "No, I feel that everything is fine" until they knew for sure whether Ziva had the disease or not, she decided not to make a big deal out of it, if it was an issue they would deal with it when the time came, until then they just had to get on with their lives.

Dr. Billings wiped the blue goo off Ziva's stomach, "as usual there are photos at the desk which you may show people. Would you like me to take an educated guess as to what sex the baby is? Or prefer to wait until the sexual organs are fully developed or the baby is born?" Ziva looked at Tony, he returned the gaze. "Tony wants to know, but I'm not sure" Ziva started, Tony continued, "I'll wait until the organs are fully developed, and then Zi can decide what she wants to do." The doctor nodded. "Very well, your photographs can be collected at the desk, I'd like to see you when you are 20 weeks, and if there are no abnormalities then you will not have to have another if you don't want to. Thankyou both for coming, have a nice day and I'll see you in 8 weeks time." Tony and Ziva both thanked the doctors before heading out to collect their photographs and go back to work.

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><p><strong>Review!<strong>


	22. Chapter 22

****I'm sorry! **I'm sorry! **I'm sorry! **I'm sorry! **I'm sorry! I wanted desperately to update sooner, but this was the hardest chapter I have written, I couldn't get it right. I want to send a special thankyou to NCIS Fan28, without her help, I would not have been able to write this, as I had no idea what I was going to do. ************

Please note that I'm not from the states, so I have no idea what is going on with the whole Bethesda/Walter Reed thing, so I used Walter Reed in this chapter, because it's my understanding that Bethesda and the older Walter Reed merged to make a military medical centre instead of seperate Navy and Army ones? Is this correct, I'm only going by what I've heard from some people on Twitter and what other authors have written on their fics.

Anyway, I'll stop talking, so you can read! Please review, cause this was really, really hard to write! Thanks Guys :)

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><p><strong>18 Weeks<strong>

Ziva was getting concerned, the x-ray technician said that the results of her Intravenous Pyelogram

would only take a few weeks to come through, it had been six. It was late, she sat at her desk thinking of all the reasons why they would be taking a long time, _She __had __the __disease, __and __they didn't__want __to __break __the __news __so __soon, __they__'__d __lost __her __results, __the __results __had __been __lost __in __the __post, __they__'__d __been __sent __to __the __wrong __person._It wasn't in her usual nature to worry, but this time, she was, only because it was something that could ultimately affect her unborn child.

Tony sensed her concern, "Zi, no news is good news, I'm sure everything is fine." He wasn't sure whether he believed it, but he wanted to. His partner smiled up at him, it was a sad smile, but it was better than nothing, "I know, Tony. But what if they lost it, or…" Tony placed a hand on her cheek, and stroked it lovingly, "Zi, wasn't it you that was telling _us_that you'd worry about it when the results come?" he looked into her dark eyes, "Yes, but I really think there could be an issue with the results now, they said a few weeks, meaning three, or four, _not_ six! He pulled her close and kissed her hair comforting her.

Gibbs walked in smacking Tony on the back of the head, in a typical 'Gibbs Slap' then continued to his desk with the simple explanation of, "Grab ass, DiNozzo!." He looked at Ziva, "everything ok, David?" she nodded, he'd been asking a lot lately, not only because of the pregnancy but also he knew she was anxious for the results. Her stomach was more noticeable now, but was only _just_ hidden by her loose shirts, she didn't want to wear anything _too_ baggy, because then she would look like she was wearing a garbage bag, once she started to show through the shirts she currently wore, she would just tell people about the pregnancy and be done with it.

Gibbs had a 'Caf-Pow!' on his desk and looked at Ziva, "can you take this to Abby? I didn't give her enough during the last case apparently, she has been nagging me to bring her one" "Of course Gibbs." She said with a smile. Tony piped up "I'll come too, Zi". Gibbs turned to McGee, "You look shocking, Tim. Go home, get some rest." McGee was slightly baffled, "Gibbs wasn't usually this fatherly to his agents, with the exception of Ziva. He blamed it on Ziva's pregnancy, and to be perfectly honest, he didn't mind the new Gibbs.

When Tony and Ziva returned to the bullpen, McGee had gone home, and Gibbs was no where to be seen. Ziva headed to her desk and started packing up her stuff, when she noticed the large yellow envelope sitting on her desk, addressed to _Miss __Ziva __David._ She turned it over to reveal the address on the back, it was from Walter Reed National Military Medical Centre. She took a deep breath, having a good idea knowing what this would be.

She read the letter, and her brow furrowed in concentration, Tony looked on from his place at the bullpen, sitting at his desk. He waited for her to read the letter, and judging by the amount of time she took, she read it two or three times. She looked up and saw his expecting expression. They locked gazes for a few minutes before she stated, "You'd better read this" his heart pounded as he walked over and took the letter, mentally preparing himself as he slowly unfolded it from the position she'd left it on the desk.

He read the address line, '_Walter __Reed __National __Military __Medical __Centre, __Medical __Imaging__'_ before proceeding to the next line. _'__Miss __Ziva __David__' _ he continued to read the letter, which consisted of informing her that she had and Intravenous Pyelogram done, just in case she developed some sort of amnesia and the last few weeks of anxious waiting was forgotten. Tony never understood why doctors did that, why couldn't they just get to the point. It would save them a lot of money in ink and paper. And it wouldn't cause the painful suspense as patients read all the bullshit in the letter before they got to the important part.

He was reading the letter slowly, as if he was scared of missing something vital, or maybe he was scared of getting to the results. Ziva looked on with a blank expression as he read, and could tell when he got to a certain part of the letter by the sharp intake of his breath, his eyes skimmed over those 15 words over and over again, _'__our __results __indicate __that __the __genes __causing __Polycystic __Kidney __Disease __were __present __in __Miss __David__'_. He felt a large lump rising in his throat. He looked at Ziva, she frowned, "You read it all?" He shook his head, "I read enough, Zi." He hugged her tight, "So you know then?" he was confused, of course he knew, he'd just read it, she picked up the letter, read _all_ of it Tony, he was confused but complied. He continued, _'__also __present __in __the __patient __are __blocking __genes, __that __will __prevent __the __disease __from __developing. __We __are __confident __that Miss David __will __not __develop __the __disease, __however, __there __is __still __a very slim __chance __that __the __unborn __child __of __Miss __David __will __carry __the genes__, __although we strongly __these __chances __are almost non-existent, due to the circumstances and family history__.__'_ Tony's face burned, _how __could __he __be __so __foolish?_He hugged her again, "Zi, I'm sorry, I didn't read all of the letter, I stopped when it said that you carried the genes. This is great news." She smiled and kissed his lips gently, "I was confused when you were upset, but then it occurred to me that you mustn't have read all of it." "I'm sorry.'' She placed her finger to his lips to silence him before removing it and kissing him again, "Tony, I am fine, and there is a really good chance that the baby will be too." They both beamed, and he held her close as they walked to their car, they enjoyed each others company as Tony drove them out of the Navy Yard.

Tony pulled his Mustang up outside the house, and squeezed Ziva's hand, giving her a large smile, before coming round to open her door. She smiled, and he placed his arm around her as they headed to the front door. Tony raised his hand and gave three brief but loud knocks.

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><p><strong>I'm not a doctor, but to my understanding most diseases that are genetic have a gene that causes it and a gene that blocks it, if both are present the gene does not develop. This is the case in my family with Early-Onset Alzheimer's Disease, but if this is incorrect for this particular disease, please pretend?<strong>

**Thankyou for reading, and please review, as I said, I found this very hard to write. **

**I want to thank NCIS Fan28 once again, and if you haven't already done so, check out her fics...They're really good! and definitely worth a read or two :) **


	23. Chapter 23

**Sorry, I know it's been two months since I updated, but I had some unexpected things come up in the meantime. I want to thank NCIS Fan28 for being there to talk to, and inspiring me :)**

**I will admit, I am kind of over writing this story, so I am going to be wrapping it up pretty soon. I just lost interest and lost where I was up to, so I apologize if it's really bad, which it probably is...but I will finish it! That I am sure of! I hate authors who don't finish stories, it really bugs me.. :)**

**So here you go, I hope you like it :) **

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><p>The door opened, and Gibbs appeared, "why you knocking DiNozzo? You know the door is always open" Tony smiled "I know, boss, just instinct I guess. We have some news." Gibbs expression grew serious as Tony said this. He looked at Ziva. "Come, sit, I'll get you guys a drink."<p>

The couple sat on Gibb's sofa as he got himself and Tony some bourbon and Ziva a juice. Ziva began, "I got my letter back from Walter Reed, Gibbs. It had my results in it." Gibbs continued to look at her, waiting for her to continue. "It appears that I have the genes for Polycystic Kidney Disease, however, I also have the genes to block it. So it is unlikely that I will develop the disease." Gibbs looked relieved, "and the baby?" he asked. "Unlikely that the baby will carry the genes also." Gibbs smiled and leant over to give Ziva a hug and kiss her forehead, "that's great news, Ziva. I'm happy to hear that you're okay." The three smiled and talked for a little while longer, until Tony decided to get Ziva home.

**20 weeks**

Ziva walked with Tony across the car park and sat in the waiting room. Ziva had another ultrasound that day, and hopefully it would be her last. The pair had decided that they didn't want to know the sex of their child, each wanted it to be a surprise after think it over some more.

"Ziva David?" Dr. Billings called, and the couple quickly stood and walked into the ultrasound room. "How is everything going? Walter reed sent me a copy of the results from your intravenous Pyelogram, that is very good news for both you and the baby, Ziva. I am very pleased for you. Now I think I mentioned last time, that if everything is okay this time then you wont have to come back, unless of course you would like to know the gender? I know last time you were indecisive." She smiled at the couple.

"I think we will wait until birth to know the gender, we have talked it over and decided that is what we both want." Ziva stated, "So unfortunately, if all goes well today, this may be the last time you see us." Tony nodded, "unless, I get her pregnant again. Then we will be sure to come back." Tony added with his million dollar grin. Dr. Billings laughed, "I am going to miss that sense of humour Mr. DiNozzo".

Dr Billings spread to goo over Ziva's belly, she was used to the feeling of it by now, but was glad that she wouldn't have to have it on her anymore. Well, that was the plan anyway, they could not be sure. Dr. Billings performed the examination.

"Well, I am pleased to tell you that you're baby is doing wonderfully, I am confident that the birth will go without a hitch." She smiled at the couple, "now are you sure you don't want to know the gender, in a few weeks" Both Tony and Ziva nodded and the doctor continued, "Very well, I think we should be able to hear the baby's heartbeat with a stethoscope, if you'd like me to try, you can hear it a bit better than on the machine?" Tony and Ziva both nodded eagerly and Tony squeezed Ziva's hand.

A free minutes later both of them had listened to their baby's heartbeat with the stethoscope, "that is amazing" tony breathed, his heart was pounding, he couldn't believe that it was _his_ baby. The baby he created with Ziva. Dr Billings smiled at them both, "Okay then, I guess that's it, there are some photos at the desk, and I hope to see you both again one day." Ziva and Tony both thanked her as they headed out. As they got into the car, Ziva's expression changed into that of concern. "Zi! What's wrong?" Tony was becoming more concerned, Ziva wasn't answering. She spontaneously grabbed his hand and placed it on her belly, "it stopped" she said with a frown. "Zi? What stopped?". Ziva looked up at the man she loved, "the baby, it was kicking!" Ziva was beaming, but she was saddened that Tony wasn't able to feel it. Their baby's first kick! Ziva couldn't wait until she could actually see how beautiful it was. The kid that she created, with Tony. She never thought this day would come, but she was glad it came, and with the man she adored.

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><p><strong>Review please! Don't hold back, let me know if it's shit, and I can try to improve it for you guys :)<strong>


	24. Chapter 24

**This is kind of a filler, to tide you over till the next update. Which hopefully, should be up soonish.. maybe. **

**Thank you to , Robern, dark but so Lovely and mprmusings for their reviews last chapter. And a thankyou to those that have reviewed/favourited and followed previously! Thankyou to NCISFan 28 who is helping me with the scenario in the next chapter.**

**Please read, and review. I'd love to know what you think, I'm not completely sold on this one.**

**Also, it jumps ahead 7 weeks from the last chapter, because as I said I am keen to get this one finished. And who knows, maybe I will write another? if the inspiration strikes. **

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><p><strong>27 weeks<strong>

Ziva and Tony sat at their desks trying to finish their paperwork before 2pm. Ziva was now showing more obviously and almost everyone at NCIS had offered their congratulations to the happy couple, wishing Ziva all the best for a safe delivery. Gibbs was trying to make her take leave for her final trimester, but she refused every time. Her argument being that she would rather work then sit at home doing nothing, waiting for the contractions only to have to try and get hold of Tony who would be at work and get to the hospital. Work was a better place for her to be. Gibbs had reluctantly agreed with her, but she was banished to Abby's lab for anything in the field that was remotely dangerous. She was allowed to go to crime scenes and help bag and tag or take statements.

Tony had been keeping a very close eye on her, she was glad to have someone so caring in her life. Tony glanced at the clock, 1:30. "You finished, Zi?" Ziva looked up and nodded, he continued, "You wanna get going now? Get there early?" Another nod. She got up from her chair and started grabbing her things.

McGee looked up, "where are you going?" he asked, slightly confused as to why Gibbs was just letting them go without a word. Gibbs spoke up, "antenatal class" McGee burst out laughing. Ziva frowned, "What is funny McGee?" he stopped laughing long enough to answer, "Oh, I think it's great, be really good for you, I just never thought I'd see DiBozo going to an antenatal class!" Tony glared at McGee. "Hey! Probie, I am the father of this child and I am going to do what I can to help Ziva and bubs through the birth." He placed an arm around Ziva's back and the other on her stomach, she leant into his embrace. "Oh, that's cute. You know, I never thought you'd be able to settle down. Guess I was wrong." Tony feigned hurt but then smiled at hidden message behind McGee's words. "Guess I changed then, haven't I Probie's?" he asked addressing the two younger members of the team. Ziva looked into his green eyes with a teasing glint in her dark ones, "you are not the same man-tramp that you were when I met you" she smiled playfully at him. "I was not! And the term is man-_whore_." She chuckled deeply before turning to Gibbs, "Thankyou for letting us go, Gibbs." The older man smiled at her, "Have fun, you two. And David.." "Yes" "good luck with that one" he said pointing at Tony. She smiled and grabbed Tony's hand, leading him to the elevator.

Gibbs looked to McGee. "Never thought I'd see that…" McGee looked at his boss, "what" Gibbs looked back down to his work "those two. Tony settling down. Ziva too. And them stop dancing around each other and get on with it. Everyone saw it coming years ago. Just they tried to deny it." McGee nodded and continued his work.

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><p>Tony glided his mustang into a parking space outside the antenatal class. He helped Ziva out of the car, and grabbed her hand as they headed inside together.<p>

The class went for two hours, covering many different areas to help both Ziva and Tony through the birthing process. The first thing they went through was the process of labour and childbirth from early labour to afterbirth. Then they moved onto physical preparations and relaxation techniques with some demonstrations and practice time. In the conclusion of the course they talked about pain relief and breathing techniques. And the partners learnt some massage skills to keep their wives and partners more comfortable during the birth. After the class was concluded, they had the chance to ask questions and were given information about an aqua-natal class the following week.

Tony and Ziva headed out of the building, they sat in the car talking for a short time before heading back to NCIS. "That was good. It was nice to learn some things that will help when the time comes. I think I might go to that aqua-natal class next week. Just to see how it goes. If we are not busy at work?" Tony nodded, "Sounds like a good idea. I can come and watch your sexy ass in the pool." Tony said cheekily with a waggle of his eyebrows. She hit him playfully on the arm as they drove back towards the Navy yard.

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><p><strong>The following week; Aqua-natal class<strong>

Gibbs had given them the time off to go to the Aqua-natal class. He was thrilled that Ziva and Tony were showing a lot of interest in the pregnancy and wellbeing of their unborn child, he'd seen too many through his job that weren't cared for. Their case load was unusually light, so having two people off wasn't a problem. They would have only been sitting around playfully flirting anyway.

Tony helped Ziva out of the car and they walked into the pool. Ziva was one of the first ones there, as they were 20 minutes early. Tony had brought his board shorts so he could have a swing on the Tarzan rope and go on the waterslides while Ziva did her exercise things.

They paddled in the pool together, hand in hand, until the class started and Tony went off to act like the big kid he is at heart. Ziva rolled her eyes when his 'wooo' interrupted their class as he swung on the Tarzan rope.

The aqua-natal class went for an hour, and they worked through various exercises in the water. After the class finished, Ziva met up with Tony again and they grabbed their towels drying off a bit before getting back in the Mustang to go home and shower before heading back to work for the day.


	25. Chapter 25

**I have another chapter for you :)  
>Claire is meant to come across as a not very nice person, so I hope she does, and doesn't come across as anything else. :)<br>I hope you like this chapter :)**

**Thankyou for the Follows/Alerts/Favourites, and to all of you that have reviewed over the course of this story. Thankyou again to mprmusings, who left me a lovely review last chapter! **

**NCIS Fan28, I thank you again, for your input for this chapter. :) Probably would not be written other wise.**

**I don't know when the next update will be done, hopefully soon, but I can't guarantee anything, as I am working 43 hours again this week!**

**Enjoy, and please review :) **

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><p><strong>30 weeks<strong>

The case the team had been working over the last week was a messy one. A petty officer first class had been murdered on board a Navy Vessel. The killer had been caught and the petty officers wife and mistress were coming into the NCIS office to sort out any remaining details and collect appropriate personal effects. The plan was the wife would come at 9.30 and the mistress at 10. But that didn't go quite to plan. The mistress had an appointment, so she showed up earlier.

Tony, Ziva and Gibbs were sitting in the bullpen waiting, and finishing off their paperwork from the case when the wife arrived. "Hello, Agent Gibbs? I am Brandon Coles wife, Melissa. You called me earlier to pick up some personal items." Gibbs nodded, indicating the woman to wait while he went and got the items. She sat carefully in McGee's chair, silent tears making their way down her pale cheeks, copper hair messily pulled into a bun and dark bags under her eyes. The team had regretted telling her that her husband was cheating, but she would have found out eventually, and they thought it better to come from them than someone else. When she regained her composure she looked over to Ziva, who was resting quietly at her desk, she had struggling with a back ache all day and was taking the time to rest up. "When are you due?" she asked, indicating at Ziva's swollen abdomen. Ziva looked up and offered the woman a small smile, "7 weeks. If all goes to plan." "Boy or girl?" Melissa asked, making it clear she was curious and interested not probing into the Israeli's life. "We are not sure. We decided to wait until the due date." Tony answered for his partner. Melissa's eyebrows rose slightly, "you guys are together? I couldn't tell." Ziva chuckled "Really? Before we were together, everyone would comment and ask how long we had been together…" she was interrupted by the elevator dinging and a ditsy looking blond in ridiculously high heels prancing into the bullpen, demanding Brandon's personal items.

Ziva's eyebrows rose at the rude entrance of Brandon's mistress, Claire Bennett. She had no idea what Petty Officer Coles saw in the woman, she was rude, ditsy and precious. She tapped her pink fake nails on Ziva's desk in impatience before turning her glare to Mrs Coles. "You his wife then?" she asked, Melissa nodded, tearstained face obvious. "You can take his ring, I don't want it. But I want that expensive watch he had." Melissa looked shocked, "Of course I am having the ring! I am the one married to him, and that watch, I gave that to him for his birthday. So technically it's mine. The only things you can have are the stupid chain and cufflinks you gave him, he told me it was from a 'friend' but it's not hard to work out it was from you." The blond glared at Melissa, "He loved those. Cost a lot too. And hate to break it to you honey, but you're not married anymore, he's dead. That watch was a Rolex right? Should get some decent money on eBay." This was all Melissa could take, she walked up to the blond and glared at her, "You didn't love Brandon at all, you only came in here to get the things I didn't want. You can have the things you gave him and then you can leave. I am the one who was married to him, so I get his personal items, except those repulsive things you gave him." Claire scowled at Melissa, "You Bitch!" with a perfectly manicured hand she pushed Melissa back, hard. After she had stumbled and regained her balance, she landed a swift slap on Claire's face. Ziva stood up to intervene right as Claire went to give Melissa a hard push, but she missed and struck Ziva instead. Sending her stumbling backwards into the corner of her desk. Tony was out of his chair in a flash, rushing to her aid as she clutched her stomach, worry filling her eyes as a sharp pain ran up from her pelvis. "Ziva! What's wrong, what's happening?" the pain died down slightly, "nothing, just another Braxton Hicks, I think" she said, although concern was still present in her features. Tony looked slightly calmer, "Okay, maybe we should get you to the hospital anyway? Just to make sure, you had a fall, so I'd feel better if you were checked out." She smiled, "I really do not think that is necessary, Tony." This time it was Tony's turn to be stubborn, "No, you _are_ going, no arguments. I am going to call Gibbs, get him to sort out these two, and we will go. Okay." He indicated angrily at Claire and Melissa, who were standing, Melissa's eyes were filled with concern, while Claire's were just full of venom at the copper haired woman, she showed no concern for what she had just caused.

Tony eased Ziva onto her chair and pulled out his phone, telling the other two women to take a seat with a firm glare and "sit!".

"Yeah, Gibbs. What is it DiNozzo?" "Boss, can you come sort out Melissa Coles and Claire Bennett. I am taking Ziva to the hospital, Claire went to push Melissa but missed and Ziva has had a fall." "Is Ziver okay? DiNozzo." "She says she is, but I want to make sure." "Okay, go. Did you say Claire Bennett, as in Petty Officer Coles' mistress?" "Yeah she's a real piece of work. Okay were going now. They're waiting in the bullpen for you." Claire glared at Tony as he walked to Ziva's desk, helping her up, but pausing when the shock and concern appeared in her face once again. "Tony, I think we need to go to the hospital _now_." Concern filled Tony's eyes again, she continued, "My waters just broke. We need to _go_." She suddenly looked like a scared child not the strong, independent woman she was. Tony nodded, "Okay, let's go. I'll call Gibbs in the car." He kissed her head, calming her slightly. "Okay, Ziva. It's okay. Were ready for this." She looked up worriedly at him, "It's too early Tony, way too early. I still have another 7 weeks to go." He squeezed her hand reassuringly and kissed her head again, before guiding her into the elevator.

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><p><strong>Review Please!:) I'd really appreciate your input on this one, see what you guys think of it :)<strong>


	26. Chapter 26

**My updating schedule is more appropriate now, yes?**

**Thankyou for the great response to the last chapter, I hope this one meets your expectations. :)**

**Please Review, Let me know how I did. This scenario is a first for me, so feedback would be appreciated. Thanks**

**Any medical information that is not correct, I apologize, but I am not a doctor. I am only going from what I have read on websites. Please forgive me if it is wrong.**

**Please, enjoy! **

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><p>Tony was driving towards to hospital, trying to keep a worried Ziva calm, but that was hard considering he was having a breakdown also. 'They still had 7 weeks of pregnancy left, at least. Why so early?' Tony knew they wouldn't handle it if anything happened to this child. It wasn't like the last baby, unplanned and unwanted, sort of. This one was theirs. Theirs <em>together<em>. And this time, they were worried sick.

While Ziva was in with a nurse, Tony decided to call Gibbs, he should know what was going on with his agent, and he'd have to let the others know, especially _Abby_.

"Gibbs. What's going on DiNozzo? Ziva okay?" "Ah, well, sorta." "What do you mean sorta? DiNozzo!" "Ah, well, she may be, in labour, boss" "labour? You sure, Tony?" "Yeah, well she's in with the nurse now, but her water broke, so I'd say so." "Okay, I'm gonna get Abs and McGee, bring 'em down. I've sorted out Claire and Melissa." "Okay, thanks boss." "See you soon, Tony."

Abby and McGee were in the lab, Gibbs headed down, "grab your stuff, were going to the hospital." Abby went into protective overdrive, "Hospital! Who got shot? Are they okay? Gibbs! Who is it? What's wrong!" "Abs, calm down, it's Ziva. Her waters have broken, she was pushed by Claire Bennett so Tony took her to the hospital, and she's gone into labour." "Ziva! Wait, it's too early, she's only 30 weeks! What if there's something wrong with the baby?" "Abby! Calm down, grab your stuff and we can find out. McGee!" Gibbs snapped the young agent out of his trance, he had frozen when Gibbs had explained the situation. Both Abby and McGee quickly got what they needed and met Gibbs in the garage. McGee barely got in the back seat when Gibbs sped off, heading for the hospital.

Tony walked back into the room where Ziva was, "Hey, Zi, how are you going?" Ziva looked up at him, slightly scared, although less than before, "the contractions hurt, and I am 8cm dilated. The back ache I have had is a sign of early labour. It started 9 hours ago so, apparently this is a normal time frame." Tony nodded, "That's great news. Gibbs will be here soon with Abs and McGee. Abby will be very excited." Ziva smiled, "the nurse told me that 90% of all babies born at 30 weeks survive. It may have to go on a ventilator for a couple of days, but it should be fine." She looked truly happy, and had every right to be.

By the time Gibbs, Abby and McGee arrived Ziva was almost fully dilated, and the contractions were very strong, she almost broke Tony's hand every time one came on. Gibbs, Abby and McGee were only allowed to be in the room for a short amount of time, due to the fact that the second stage of labour would be starting very soon. So they were banished into the waiting room to sip coffee and be anxious. Gibbs was happy that his first 'grandchild' was soon to enter the world, but couldn't help but worry about the prematurity of the birth. Kelly was right on time, so having a preterm baby was a new experience for all of them. The only consolation was the assurance from the nurse that around 90% of babies born at this time survived.

Abby was sipping Caf-Pow regularly and couldn't sit still, she wanted to be in there helping her friend through the birth, but she knew that was Tony's job. He was her partner and the father. And he was going to be great.

McGee still wasn't sure what to think. It was too early, he'd come accustomed to a pregnant Ziva, finally, and now it wasn't going to be that way. It would be Tony, Ziva and baby David? DiNozzo? Which last name would it take? This got McGee thinking of possible names that Ziva and Tony would like for their baby, and what gender it would be.

It took an hour to complete the second stage of labour. There was lots of pushing and some pain for Ziva and for Tony it was pain and love. His hand was sure to be bruised, but he'd never loved anyone more than the woman in the bed in front of him.

Tony had never been more proud when Ziva asked him to cut the umbilical cord, officially bringing their child into the world.

_Their child._ It still sounded funny, the fact that after 5 and a bit years they had finally stopped dancing around each other and their feelings and got on with it. They were happy, and so was the team. Abby was thrilled that her predictions had been right, not to mention the 50 dollars she got from McGee saying that they'd be together by the end of their 6 years since they met. He thought they'd wait a bit longer. Dance around each other some more. And find happiness together more towards their 8th year. But despite the fact that he was wrong, he couldn't be happier. They loved each other and they were having a child. And he and Abby were godparents!

Gibbs had never been more proud of his agents. Ziva had come through so much, she was a fighter, and if what she had already endured wasn't going to stop her, nothing would. Tony had come from a broken home as a child, and turned into a womanizer, having a new girl every week. He knew something was happening when this stopped. Was his agent growing up? Or were feelings getting in the way? He knew they'd be together one day. And for them, he was happy to make an exception to rule 12. He must be getting soft.

The baby was small, as expected, but relatively healthy. It was to be checked by a doctor before Ziva could hold it, and it was decided that they would but the baby on a ventilator for three days and see where it went from there. For a 30 week old baby, the doctor had one thing to say, "Definitely a fighter this one!" Tony smiled and kissed Ziva's forehead, "Just like mum."

The small pink baby was placed in Ziva's arms with the cliché line, "Congratulations, it's a girl!" Ziva smiled at the bundle of joy in her arms as a tear rolled down her cheek. She looked into Tony's eyes with love and excitement. "She's perfect."


	27. Chapter 27

**Okay, I have another update! I said I was trying to get this one out of the way, but now I'm kinda sad, because there is only the epilogue left to write, then it'll be all over!**

**Once again, I apologize for any incorrect medical information, I am not a doctor! :)**

**I hope you enjoy this one, I liked writing it, was fun :)**

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><p>The team were allowed in the room for a short time before Tony and Ziva's baby girl would have to go onto a ventilator for a few days. Then they would be able to take her home.<p>

Gibbs was first in the door to Ziva's room, followed closely by Abby, McGee, Ducky and Palmer. Gibbs walked over and kissed the Israeli's head gently before shaking Tony's hand and offering a heartfelt congratulations on the safe, if not quick arrival of their first born. "Would you like a hold, Gibbs?" Ziva asked her father figure with a warm smile, Gibbs looked down at her and smiled before gently prying the baby from his 'daughters' arms. He cuddled the small girl close to his chest and planted a soft kiss on her forehead, the road that led them here, had sometimes been hard, and long. But everyone in the room was glad that the couple had taken it, as it led them to great happiness.

Abby was bouncing up and down, but settled when Ziva offered her a hold of their baby, she eagerly took the little girl and looked into her eyes, bright green ones looked back at her, just like Tony's. "Aww, she has Tony's eyes! And dark hair like you, Ziva! She's so cute!" McGee watched Abby cradle the little baby before she turned and tried giving her to him, "Timmy, hold the baby!" McGee was reluctant, "I'll drop her, Abs, I havent held a baby since Sarah was little" Abby was persistant, "Now is a good time to hold one again then!" she passed the little girl to McGee, who reluctantly took her, he looked stiff, and he felt like he was going to drop her. "McGee, relax. Youre doing great." Ziva gently coaxed, and the young agent relaxed a little, Gibbs and Tony couldn't hide the little smirks that crept onto their features. Ducky and Palmer were watching on with joy. Ducky was admiring the little girl when she was passed to him, he gave her a quick cuddle and offered her to Palmer, who reluctantly agreed and held her briefly before passing her back to Ziva.

Abby was so excited, she hugged Ziva and Tony, almost crushing them, then went around to everyone in the room, repeating the gesture. They all laughed when she cried out, "The first NCIS baby! And it couldn't have two better parents than Tony and Ziva! Ah, I just knew you guys would get together one day!" she squealed excitedly and turned to McGee, "we're godparents!" McGee smiled and hugged her gently.

Gibbs looked at his agents, "have you decided on a name, Ziver?" she nodded, and smiled. "We thought about it for a bit and we have decided to have a mixture of Hebrew and Italian names. Kaylen Talia Elena DiNozzo."

The team smiled, Ducky was the first to speak up, "that is a beautiful name, my dear. It suits her well." "Thankyou Ducky" Ziva said with a smile.

A nurse came into the room, informing the couple that they would be taking Kaylen to be put on a ventilator, and that Ziva should try and get some sleep. The team said their goodbyes and left Ziva to doze off in the hospital bed.

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><p>Tony followed the team out, he had something to ask them. "I have a surprise planned for Zi. I've bought us a house, in Arlington, 4 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms. I'd like some help getting it ready for Kaylen, when we get her home. I thought I'd have more time though, so I don't have any baby furniture, just the paint." Abby gave a small smirk and looked at Gibbs, Tony saw this, "What?" Abby smiled, "it's a good thing you don't have furniture, because there is a homemade cot and change table sitting in Gibbs basement. I helped him finish them last week!" Tony's face broke out into a mega-watt grin, he looked at Gibbs, "how did you know that we didn't already have furniture planned?" Gibbs chucked, "Because I know you, Tony. Now you gonna show us this house, or not?" Another grin erupted onto Tony's face, "I'll just go say goodbye to Zi." The team nodded and Tony walked quickly back into Ziva's room.<p>

Abby was all smiles, "Aww, they're so cute, and Tony bought her a house! That's adorable." The team laughed whilst they waited for Tony to return.

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><p>Tony unlocked the door to the 2 story house, in his opinion, it was perfect. White rendering covered the front walls of the house, and the remaining ones were brick. Double front doors opened into a big entry room and a staircase leading to the second floor. The first floor housed the kitchen, one bathroom, dining rooms, lounge rooms, and home cinema. And the second floor, 4 bedrooms, study and bathroom. Most of the house was already painted and furnished, Tony had spent his spare time doing those things when Ziva went out, the house was only 5 minutes from his old apartment, so travelling wasn't an issue. The only room that wasn't painted and furnished was the nursery, still bare, waiting for the delivery to be closer. The other two spare bedrooms were painted but unfurnished, as Tony was waiting to see what Ziva wanted to do with them. Tony showed his team around the house before they set to work in the nursery. Ducky and Palmer were masking the walls up, so the paint wouldn't get on the skirts or ceilings and began cutting in, while Tony and McGee started to roll the walls, applying the beautiful sky blue colour over the original bland cream from the previous owners. Abby and Gibbs went to his house to retrieve the handcrafted furniture.<p>

Gibbs and Abby brought the cot and change table inside, and placed them in one of the lounge rooms for the time being. They looked at the colour of the walls in the nursery and decided to paint them an off white colour, so it would co-ordinate with the blue, without being too much.

Once the room was painted, Ducky and Palmer had to leave. Gibbs, Abby and McGee were going to stay and finish the nursery before getting some Chinese food for dinner. Tony and Abby ducked down to a home decorating store while Gibbs was putting the final coat of paint on the crib and change table. They picked out some off white zigzag shelves to mount on the walls and a white shaggy rug to lay over the floorboards. They also found some cute wall stickers for the room, flowers on stems and grass to go around the skirt and clouds for around the cornices.

When they got home, Gibbs had finished the painting and Tony helped him manoeuvre the furniture into the nursery while Abby ordered the take out. They would put the wall stickers on just before Tony would bring Ziva and Kaylen home so the paint had a decent amount of time to harden.

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><p><strong>What did we all think of the name, then?<strong>

**Kaylen ~ Hebrew, Beloved Sweetheart.  
>Talia ~ Hebrew, Dew from Heaven.<br>Elena ~ Italian, Light. **

**Talia was chosen for obvious reasons, plus I _loved_ the name before Tali was even mentioned in the show!  
>Kaylen and Elena, were simply because I wanted them. I love Hebrew names, I have two, and I was going to keep the whole name Hebrew, but I decided to add a bit of Italian too, so the first two names are Hebrew and the last two Italian. :) <strong>

**What did you think of it? Let me know in a Review!**


	28. Epilogue and Final Author's Note

_**~Epilogue~**_

Tony pulled his Mustang into a parking space close to the hospital exit. He was half an hour earlier than he said he'd be, but he had done that for a reason. He had to work out how to get the wretched baby carrier in the car. He swore those things were people proof!

After 25 minutes of struggling, he finally managed to get it in. he waved his arms triumphantly until people started giving him weird looks. Then he grabbed a little bag he had brought containing clothes for Ziva, and a cute little baby onesie he had custom made. It was light pink, and featured a blue logo with 'Team NCIS' and 'Washington DC' on it. He had got it in an infant size as well as various sizes to fit Kaylen as she got older. He thought it was cute.

He walked into Ziva's room and kissed her gently. Little Kaylen Talia Elena DiNozzo was sleeping peacefully in her cot. He handed Ziva her favourite cargo pants and a loose fitting white top. By the time she had changed into her clothes, Kaylen had woken up and Tony had snapped on the new little onesie, as a surprise for Ziva.

She swiftly exited the bathroom and looked to where Tony was cradling Kaylen smiling at her. She smiled at the sight of the two and noticed the absence of the previous white onesie. She walked closer and inspected the little pink onesie. She smiled and looked at Tony, "you bought this?" he nodded. "It is adorable" she kissed him gently and laid her hand over his that was supporting Kaylen's head. Tony looked at her, "Should we go?" She nodded, "I have signed all the necessary forms, so we can leave when we are ready." Tony carried Kaylen down to the car and gently eased her into the baby carrier, Ziva watched on, amazed that he could work it out, those carriers could be a real pain!

He turned to Ziva and stood back, they were both admiring the small pink baby in the carrier. They stood like that for a few minutes before Tony kissed her cheek and opened the door for her. She gently stepped into the car and he headed round to the driver's side, pulling carefully out of the hospital car park.

Kaylen was silent for most of the trip, except for the occasional grizzle. Tony pulled the car into the driveway of their house, although it was still a surprise to Ziva. "Tony, why are we stopping?" He looked at her, "Oh, sorry, sweetcheeks, forgot to mention. One of my frat buddies lives here, I told him I'd drop in and show him Kaylen, and my beautiful wife of course." He gave her his mega-watt DiNozzo grin. She frowned, "Tony, I am tired. I have spent the last 4 and a half days in hospital, I want to go home." He could tell she was slightly agitated. "Won't take long, just a quick hello." She groaned, "Fine! I will get Kaylen."

Tony walked to the door, closely followed by Ziva and Kaylen. He opened the door, without knocking. "I thought usually people knock before entering other's houses, but your culture is constantly surprising me." Tony smiled, and kissed her temple before walking inside.

Ziva gasped when Gibbs, McGee, Abby, Ducky, Palmer and Director Vance all jumped out, yelling a "Surprise!" Kaylen, who had fallen asleep in her mother's arms woke with a start, but surprisingly did not cry. Ziva noticed some other people in the room also. After closer inspection she recognized 3 of them as Director Vance's wife and children, and by the way the other woman clung to Palmer, this was Breena.

She turned to Tony and gave him a questioning look, "Welcome home, sweetcheeks!" he said, a huge smile spilling across his features, she stared, "Home?" Tony nodded, "I bought it a while ago, been doing it up when I had the time, Gibbs, Abs, McGee, Ducky and Palmer helped me with the nursery a couple of days ago, I thought I'd have more time. Do you like it?" Ziva kissed Tony again, not too passionately as to make the other occupants of the room uncomfortable, but enough to know how much she loved it. As they separated, she looked into his eyes, "I love it, it is perfect!" she kissed him again before going round to the other occupants of the room. A kiss on the cheek for Gibbs and Ducky, a warm hug for Abby, McGee and Palmer, and a brief, friendly hug for everyone else, a thankyou was uttered with each.

Tony led the group around on a tour, silent tears escaped Ziva's eyes, but were quickly brushed away at the sight of the gorgeous nursery. The couple shared yet another kiss and Ziva gave Gibbs a warm hug at the sight of the beautiful handcrafted furniture.

The group descended the stairs and spent the rest of the afternoon in the lounge room. Kaylen received countless gifts, consisting of clothing, toys, baby albums, pacifiers and blankets.

Tony and Ziva sat together, a sleeping Kaylen was nestled in Gibbs arms as he watched his team, and family socialise. Tony's arm slipped around Ziva's waist pulling her closer, she leant into his chest and smiled. He kissed her hair.

They were truly happy. And that's all he could ever ask for.

**Okay, so this story is officially finished! Please review and tell me what you guys think! I hope I got most of the American terms right, I am from Australia, so I apologize if I didn't :)**

**The onesie can be viewed here, just remove the spaces from the web address. - **http:/ www. cafepress ./+ncis_washington_dc_infant_bodysuit,591569952

**I cannot promise a sequel at this stage as I am not into writing the happy families, lovey dovey, managing a household thing, but you never know what may happen in the future, so keep a look out. **

**Thankyou for all the ongoing support throughout the writing of this story. When I published I never thought it would get the response that it has.**

**A very special thankyou goes out to NCIS Fan28 who has put up with me, and continues to do so. She has helped me with the writing of this story. I encourage all Tiva shippers to check out her stories!**

**Thankyou to those that have reviewed this story during the course of its writing:  
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**Without you, this story may not have been finished. I thank any one in advance who review in the future. Please keep enjoying FFN. And if you're a fan of the Australia TV Series, 'Rush' please check out my other fics. Thankyou all!**


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